Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Engineering Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Geotechnical Engineering

Western University

2016

Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Channel Form And Processes In A Formerly Glaciated Terrain, Nathaniel Bergman Nov 2016

Channel Form And Processes In A Formerly Glaciated Terrain, Nathaniel Bergman

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Despite that many places around the world in general, and North America in particular, were glaciated during the last ice age, relatively little is known about rivers that evolved over these landscapes once they deglaciated. These rivers are commonly categorized as alluvial with a glacial legacy, and often described as plain gravel-bed or sand-bed rivers. Alternatively, they are considered to be bedrock rivers when the glacial deposits were eroded and underlying rock was exposed. However, ignoring the glacial history of these rivers is scientifically wrong and they should be termed "semi-alluvial". This work shows that classification is important, not only …

Go to article

Foundation Effects Of Trees Under Wind Loads, Padmavathi Venkata Sagi Oct 2016

Foundation Effects Of Trees Under Wind Loads, Padmavathi Venkata Sagi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Winching tests were conducted on a mature 24-year-old Norway spruce tree. The tree was instrumented with strain gauges along the root structure and tilt sensors along the tree stem and was winched to failure. Tracked tree-root system response to failure load and the material properties of the tree-root-soil system were used to examine the applicability of simple engineering principles to tree stability analysis. Tree stability was studied using the principles of Winkler foundation model for the first time. In order to study the very complex windthrow phenomenon, a novel experimental technique was used. Tree saplings with complete structural root systems …

Go to article

Time-Dependent Behaviour Of Micro-Tunneling Construction In Queenston Shale, Hayder Mohammed Salim Al-Maamori Aug 2016

Time-Dependent Behaviour Of Micro-Tunneling Construction In Queenston Shale, Hayder Mohammed Salim Al-Maamori

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Queenston shale among other shales from southern Ontario exhibits time-dependent deformation behaviour. This behaviour is manifested in the form of volume increase which can cause damages to the hosted underground structures. The time-dependent deformation of rocks can cause cracks in the springline of tunnels, wall inward movement, roof spalling and floor heave, which requires costly remedial measures. The expansion of the existing infrastructures in southern Ontario requires construction techniques, such as micro-tunneling to build new tunnels and pipelines under the existing structures with minimal impact to these structures and to the environment. However, adopting this technique in swelling rocks, …

Go to article

Electrokinetics And Vacuum Combined Dewatering Of Oil Sand Tailings, Rui Zhang Jun 2016

Electrokinetics And Vacuum Combined Dewatering Of Oil Sand Tailings, Rui Zhang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

One of the challenges faced by the oil sand industry is the dewatering of mature fine oil sands tailings (MFT) due to the low permeability. Vacuum pressure or electrokinetic (EK) dewatering is effective to meet this objective. This research was focused on the experimental study and analytical modelling to explore the influence of combined vacuum and EK treatment on MFT. In this study, systematical experiments on MFT recovered from the northern Alberta were carried out. At first, the characterization and EK cell tests were conducted to measure the basic properties and the coefficient of electroosmotic permeability (ke) of MFT. Secondly, …

Go to article

Evaluation Of Fatigue Response Of A Carbonate Clay Till Beneath Wind Turbine Foundation, Jordan A. Kiss May 2016

Evaluation Of Fatigue Response Of A Carbonate Clay Till Beneath Wind Turbine Foundation, Jordan A. Kiss

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis describes full-scale field monitoring and analysis of an onshore shallow wind turbine foundation and an associated laboratory testing program. The aim of the study was to investigate the soil-structure interaction under coupled cyclic vertical-horizontal-moment loading. This involved simulating the soil element behavior in controlled laboratory tests, evaluating the accumulated cyclic soil damage and correlating this with the observed wind and turbine responses. The results form an important part of the ‘wind-chain’, providing information for optimizing the performance of wind turbines, extending their operational lifespans and potentially for development of structural health monitoring systems. The field monitoring systems for …

Go to article

Seismic Vulnerability Of Buried Energy Pipelines In Northern Canada, Behrang Dadfar May 2016

Seismic Vulnerability Of Buried Energy Pipelines In Northern Canada, Behrang Dadfar

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Permafrost in Canada’s North covers the terrain either continuously or discontinuously. Geological hazards associated with the presence of permafrost are serious barriers against development of the northern hydrocarbon resources. In recent decades, negative effects of geohazards such as frost heave, thaw settlement, slope instability on the safety of northern pipelines are widely studied; however, those of the seismic events are not. During earthquakes, buried pipelines may suffer damage from the induced transient ground deformations (TGD) and/or permanent ground deformations (PGD). While the former is caused by seismic wave propagation, the latter can result from liquefaction, faulting and landslides. This thesis …

Go to article

Numerical Modelling Of Wind Turbine Foundations Subjected To Combined Loading, Venkatesh Madhukar Deshpande Apr 2016

Numerical Modelling Of Wind Turbine Foundations Subjected To Combined Loading, Venkatesh Madhukar Deshpande

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

With the growing wind industry in Canada, it has become important to optimize wind turbine foundation design. Wind turbine foundations are subjected to combinations of vertical, horizontal and moment loads due to vertical self-weight of the structure and soil surcharge. Additionally, there are significant lateral loads and overturning moments attributed to varying wind forces acting at considerable tower heights above the ground level. In this thesis, the undrained bearing capacity response of circular & octagonal foundations subjected to combined loading is calculated using finite element analyses. Previous works have mostly focused on circular foundations. An octagonal foundation of the style …

Go to article

Application Of Treated Oil Sands Drill Cuttings Waste In Micropiles Construction, Moustafa Ahmed Raafat Mohamed Aboutabikh Jan 2016

Application Of Treated Oil Sands Drill Cuttings Waste In Micropiles Construction, Moustafa Ahmed Raafat Mohamed Aboutabikh

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A micropile is constructed by drilling a hole, placing a steel reinforcing element, grouting it using neat cement. However, cement production consumes energy and generates carbon dioxide. Implementing waste materials in construction applications represents a sustainable solution for many waste management problems. On the other hand, oil sands drill cuttings waste represents one of the most difficult challenges for the oil sands mining sector. Reducing the amount oil sands drill cutting waste sent to landfill offers one of the best solutions for waste management. This thesis presents an innovative solution for application of treated oil sands waste (TOSW) in grout …

Go to article