A Rubber Balloon Soil Densitometer is one of the essential apparatuses in Geotechnical Engineering to measure the in-place volume of compacted soil to calculate the soil density. In 2019, some renowned institutions and organizations, Vattenfall, Luleå University of Technology, Uppsala University, Lund University, and HydroResearch AB, were involved in a research project. As a part of that research project, a small earth-rockfill dam was built in Älvkarleby, Vattenfall. During the construction of the experimental dam, to test the sufficiency of the degree of compaction in the core layers, the Rubber Balloon Soil Densitometer of the German company called Headquarters of Magdeburger Prüfgerätebau GmbH, in short HMP, was used. However, it was suspected that some of the HMP densitometer test results showed measured volumes of the excavated holes lower than the expectation. Hence, it aroused the necessity to check the correctness of the balloon test apparatus and its test procedure. This thesis topic aims to fulfill that necessity. The objective of this research is to determine whether the volumetric measurements achieved by this apparatus are accurate. If the volumes measured by this apparatus are inaccurate, it is crucial to find the reasons behind the inaccuracy. It is also essential to determine the inaccuracy causes and pursue the solution to obtain precision in volumetric measurement. This thesis topic is vital for engineers and researchers of civil engineering and other departments because concluding the research would help collect better soil density data using an HMP Rubber Balloon Soil Densitometer and other similar densitometers. All the laboratory works of this thesis were conducted at the Soil Laboratory of Luleå University of Technology. At the beginning of the laboratory work, a pit was excavated in a compacted mixed fine-grained silty sand type of soil inside a bucket to conduct a densitometer test. The actual volume of this pit was determined using the water replacement method. The HMP densitometer measured a volume of this pit smaller than its actual volume. Then, the apparatus itself was tested to evaluate its function. It was found that the plexiglass cylinder has different inner circular cross-sectional areas at different heights, which do not match the inner circular cross-sectional area mentioned in the HMP sticker on the plexiglass. As time passes, slight deformation of a plexiglass cylinder is normal and can happen because of temperature, applied pressure, and repetitive usage. The precision in percentage from the actual volume of a pit indicates the stuck air between the pit surface and the rubber balloon during a densitometer test. For engineering purposes, a precision in percentage smaller than one percent can be considered reasonable. The results showed that the actual volume of a pit should be at least around one liter to achieve precision in percentage from the actual volume of the pit smaller than about one percent. Additionally, pits with larger actual volumes have smaller precision in percentages from the actual volumes of the pits. The imperfection of the plexiglass cylinder has a lesser influence on larger pits during a densitometer test. Compacted coarse-grained soil can absorb the stuck air during a densitometer test because of having a sufficient quantity of pores. However, compacted fine-grained soil is so airtight that the soil can not absorb the stuck air. Transparent bowls and non-transparent bowls and a bucket were considered artificial pits of different sizes and shapes in compacted fine-grained soil, and densitometer tests were conducted with them. The results showed that the extended Ucsan bowl had the appropriate shape and size among these artificial pits. Because the average percentage of stuck air inside it was the smallest. However, the topmost diameter of an artificial pit or a real pit should be the same as the inner diameter of the metal ring of the HMP apparatus. Putting two stripes of industrial cleaning cloth perpendicularly inside an artificial or a real pit during a densitometer test was considered a solution to the stuck air problem. After applying this solution for the densitometer tests with all the artificial pits, the results showed that a real pit's appropriate shape and size with this solution should be similar to the extended Ucsan bowl. This was proved at the end of the laboratory work when a pit was excavated through the metal ring of the apparatus in a compacted mixed fine-grained silty sand type of soil inside a bucket to conduct densitometer tests. This pit was given a shape and size similar to the extended Ucsan bowl during excavation. This time, two industrial cleaning cloth stripes were placed perpendicularly inside the pit before the tests. The results showed that almost all the stuck air could be dissipated during a densitometer test by placing two stripes of industrial cleaning cloth perpendicularly inside a pit with a shape and size similar to the Ucsan bowl. During laboratory work, the HMP apparatus continuously measured volumes smaller than the actual volumes in all the densitometer tests.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-17T14:53:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Pedro Augusto Lopes Abreu.pdf: 1389353 bytes, checksum: 81ce9ae4d3b6d093a60100d28069418b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-03-16 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / A system for measuring low rates of gas flow has great importance for some industrial and especially for scientific applications where usually high accuracy and low uncertainty are required. This type of measurement systems have undergone a great development in recent years primarily due to the concern with the release of gases in natural processes occurring in the environment, such as anaerobic biodegradation process which releases methane and the use in the production of biogas. In this work, the development of low-volume gas flow rate measurement system using the method of pressure difference in a container of known volume is presented. A microcontroller is used to control two valves located one gas inlet and the other at the gas outlet of the container. Appropriate analysis of uncertainty propagation is carried out, and components suitable are selected for the development of the meter in order to perform the measurement with low uncertainty. Simulations and experimental tests are presented for validating the proposed system. / Os sistemas de medição de pequenas taxas de fluxo de gás tem grande relevância nos âmbitos industriais e científicos, nos quais suas aplicações exigem geralmente medições com baixa incerteza. Esses sistemas de medição tem tido uma grande evolução ultimamente. Isso se deve, principalmente, à preocupação com a liberação de gases em processos biológicos naturais como, por exemplo, o gás metano liberado no processo de biodegradação anaeróbio, e que também é aproveitado como biogás. Neste trabalho, apresenta-se o desenvolvimento de um medidor para pequenos volumes de gases utilizando o método de diferença de pressão em um recipiente de volume conhecido. Um microcontrolador é utilizado no controle das duas válvulas localizadas na entrada e na saída do recipiente. São realizados estudos apropriados de análise e propagação de incertezas, e são escolhidos componentes adequados para o desenvolvimento e construção do medidor, de modo a realizar a medição com boa exatidão e baixa incerteza. Simulações e testes experimentais são apresentados para validação do sistema proposto.