A. James Clark School of Engineering

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Geological engineering

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    PARAMETRIC STUDY OF SOIL DRYING IN THE FIELD FOR COMPACTION QUALITY ASSURANCE
    (2017) Afsharikia, Zahra; Schwartz, charles W.; Civil Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Moving towards modulus based methods of soil compaction quality assurance using lightweight deflectometers (LWD) requires evaluation of the LWD measured modulus in the field. The resilient modulus of geomaterials is not only influenced by the moisture content (MC) at the time of compaction, but also by the MC at the time of testing, which may be up to few hours after compaction. A parametric study was performed using SoilVision’s SVFlux analysis package to model the variation of soil moisture profile with depth versus time as a function of environmental factors. Then the drying in a compacted soil layer was modeled and compared to the volumetric water content measurements in an instrumented large-scale test pit. Finally, LWD modulus values in the field were captured immediately and a few hours after compaction to exhibit the variation of modulus with time and to identify if the stiffness gain in geomaterial is significant.
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    Induced Soil Liquefaction for the Freeing of Grounded Ships
    (2017) Cerquetti, Jeffrey; Aggour, Mohamed S.; Civil Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The objective of this study is to determine the feasibility of freeing a grounded ship by liquefying the surrounding soils. Ships either moored or traveling in near-shore waters and subjected to storm events, will experience waves energetic enough to direct the ship toward the shore. The ship can then become embedded in the soils (grounded) close to the shore. The study included two phases. Phase one was an experimental study where models of three ship sections representing standard classes of ships were constructed. These models were embedded in a saturated sand in an especially constructed tank. Pull tests were done initially to establish benchmark freeing forces and then air blasts were used to produce the dynamic force needed to liquefy the surrounding soils. The models subsequently regained buoyancy. The second phase of the study utilized the data obtained from the testing program to extrapolate those data to a response of an actual-size ship. The conclusion showed that ships grounded can be freed by liquefaction of the surrounding soils. This novel technique of restoring a ship’s buoyancy and thus refloating it was demonstrated experimentally on model ships and analytically by determining the air pressure needed to free an actual ship in a grounding event. This new technique will have an economical value for the shipping industry and could provide an environmentally safe approach in dealing with grounded ships.