An investigation of pile diameter influence in the bearing capacity on Dynamic Load Test (DLT)

During the construction of five residential buildings in the city of Taubate, State of São Paulo, it was possible to carry out one comprehensive investigation of the behavior of precast concrete piles in clay shales. This paper describes the results of Dynamic Load Tests (DLT's) executed in three piles with different diameters and with the same embedded length. The tests were monitored using the PDA(R) (Pile Driving Analyzer) and the pile top displacement was measured by pencil and paper procedure. From the curves of RMX versus DMX resulted from CASE(R) method, CAPWAPC(R) analyses were made for signals where the maximum mobilized soil resistance was verified. The results were compared with the predicted bearing capacity using the semi-empirical method of Decourt & Quaresma (1978) and Decourt (1982) based on SPT values and the description of the soil profile. Some comments related to the values of quake and damping used for clay shales in the analyses are also presented.

Structural behaviour of three-pile caps subjected to axial compressive loading

This work presents a comparative analysis about the behaviour of pile caps supported by 3 piles subjected to axial loading. Piles with 20 cm and 30 cm diameters were analysed. The main reinforcement was maintained in all the specimens, however, the arrangement of the secondary reinforcement varied. The main reinforcement consisted of steel bars connecting the piles. The secondary reinforcement was made up of: (a) bars going through the piles and through the projection of the column, (b) bars forming a network, and (c) vertical and horizontal stirrups. The main objective was the observation of the pile cap behaviour regarding the cracks and the modes of rupture. The real scale specimens were subjected to experimental tests until failure by rupture. Instruments were placed with the aim to obtain the displacement of the bases, the strains in the main and secondary reinforcement bars, in the compression struts, in the lower and upper nodal zones and in the sides of the caps. None of the caps reached failure by rupture with a load less than 1.12 times the theoretical load. The specimens ruptured due to the cracking of the compression strut and/or the yielding of the reinforcement bars in one direction.

Parâmetros geotécnicos e previsão da capacidade de carga de estacas apiloadas em solo tropical arenoso obtidos com o Pressiômetro Ménard

This paper presents and discusses Ménard Pressuremeter test results used to predict bearing capacity of pounded piles installed in a tropical sandy soil. Fifteen pre-bored pressuremeter tests were carried out at the Experimental Research Site from Unesp - Bauru up to 15 m depth, one test per meter. Several laboratory and in situ tests were carried out in this research site as well as load tests on plates and on piles. Pressuremeter test results were firstly analyzed to determine geotechnical soil parameters based on empirical methods, emphasizing the estimative of the earth pressure coefficient at rest (K0). After that, bearing capacity prediction of pounded piles with 4 m, 7 m and 10 m were made and compared with test results from instrumented load tests. Pressuremeter test results allowed a very good estimative of bearing capacity for the pile with 4 m length and underestimated in 25,7% and 20,0% the bearing capacity for the pile with 7 and 10 m length, respectively. The back analysis of the test results suggests that the appropriate value for the bearing capacity factor for the tested soil-pile system on this soil is equal to 2.

The use of CPT to evaluate the effect of helical pile installation in tropical soils

The uplift capacity of helical piles depends on the shear resistance of the soil above the helical plates. During helical pile installation, the soil traversed by the plates are sheared and displaced laterally, and consequently the soil structure is disturbed. Considering this fact, the aim of this paper is presenting the effect of helical piles installation in the soil mass by means of CPT tests carried out close to the soil cylinder above the pile helices. The CPT tests were performed at the CRHEA site from the Sao Carlos School of Engineering, Sao Carlos city, inland of Sao Paulo State, Brazil. In addition, an interpretation of CPT tests data for stratigrafic logging are presented and compared to Standard Penetration Tests (SPT) carried out at this site. This study showed that the CPT sleeve friction fs data were affected by the installation of helical pile in this particular tropical soil site. © 2013 Taylor & Francis Group.

Análise da influência de um reforço de solo-cimento compactado na extremidade superior de estacas escavadas, sob carregamentos horizontais

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Características químicas, microbiológicas e sensoriais de leite de cabra congelado

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar as modificações químicas, microbiológicas e sensoriais do leite caprino pasteurizado e congelado durante armazenamento por 90 dias. Foram realizadas análises para caracterização química da matéria prima utilizada nos experimentos (gordura, acidez Dornic, densidade, extrato seco total, pH e ácidos graxos livres-AGL) e caracterização microbiológica (contagem total, psicrotróficos, coliformes totais e fecais). Utilizou-se pasteurização lenta a 63°±1°C por 30 minutos para as amostras de leite seguido de armazenamento em freezer à temperatura de -18°C±1°C. Nos tempos 0, 30, 60 e 90 dias de congelamento foram efetuadas análises químicas (pH, acidez e AGL), microbiológicas (contagem total, psicrotróficos e coliformes) e sensoriais (sabor e aroma característico, sabor e odor estranho e aparência geral). Também, realizou-se análise sensorial do leite nos tempos zero e com 90 dias de armazenamento, após descongelamento e homogeneização em liquidificador por dois minutos. Foi observado que o congelamento prolongado do leite pasteurizado não alterou significativamente suas características químicas e microbiológicas. Apenas a acidez apresentou decréscimo significativo. No entanto, a qualidade do leite do ponto de vista sensorial apresentou modificações significativas, com perdas de sabor e aroma característicos e declínio acentuado da aparência geral durante o armazenamento. A homogeneização do leite em liquidificador, após o descongelamento melhorou a aparência geral e a aceitação do produto pela equipe de provadores.

Interação de genótipos de abobrinha italiana com inseticida no controle da broca das cucurbitáceas Diaphania nitidalis Cr.

A resistência de genótipos de abobrinha italiana Cucurbita pepo L. à broca das cucurbitáceas Diaphania nitidalis Cr. foi avaliada a campo. O genótipo Duda apresentou o maior número de frutos produzidos (33 frutos/parcela), enquanto Lita-186 foi o mais preferido, com a maior percentagem de frutos broqueados (3,6%). Os genótipos AG-202, Lita-186 e Duda, mais o inseticida deltametrina 25 CE foram avaliados. Duda comportou-se novamente como mais produtivo (35 frutos/parcela) e menos danificado (0,35%), confirmando os resultados obtidos no primeiro ensaio; já os genótipos AG-202 e Lita-186 revelaram-se os mais preferidos por D. nitidalis, com maiores índices de frutos danificados (2,7 e 6,3%, respectivamente).

Experience gained and difficulties in performing dynamic load test in composite piles made with steel rails

The results of dynamic instrumentation in two construction sites that used steel rails as pile foundation are presented in this paper. The first dynamic load tests were executed in piles made by single steel rails of the type TR32 and TR37. In the second group of dynamic tests, the piles were made by a composition of two and three steel rails of the same type TR37. The difficulties in placing the sensors, the effect of hammer blow eccentricity and the influence of the non-uniform welding along the pile length are presented in detail and discussed.

Localization and partial characterization of thermostable glucoamylase produced by newly isolated Thermomyces lanuginosus TO3 in submerged fermentation

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Pectinase production by a Brazilian thermophilic fungus Thermomucor indicae-seudaticae N31 in solid-state and submerged fermentation

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Effect of different substrates on composting of poultry litter

The objective was to evaluate the differences between distinct types of litter material and their combinations in the dynamics of degradation on the organic matter fractions and the quality of the final compound. The treatments were established according to material used as substrate for broiler litter: treatment 1 - rice husks; 2 - sugar cane bagasse; 3 - wood shavings; 4 - wood shavings + sugar cane bagasse; 5 - rice husks + sugar cane bagasse; and 6 - Napier grass. The following variables were monitored: temperature, levels of total solids (TS), volatile solids (VS), mass and volume of the pile, fibrous fraction, and levels and reductions of N, P and K during the process. Piles formed with Napier grass and sugar cane bagasse presented the highest average temperatures during composting. The greater average reductions in TS and VS were attained in piles with sugar cane bagasse (68.12 and 73.07%, for TS and VS, respectively). The reductions of greatest volume occurred in piles with sugar cane bagasse (52.08%), followed by Napier grass (50.56%). Poultry litters composed of rice husks and wood shavings presented 13.21 and 10.23% of lignin, respectively, which contributed to the lower degradation of fibrous fraction and degradability. Substrates with lower lignin content were those with greatest organic matter degradation rate and had reduced losses of N levels during the process. Composting performance is affected by the initial substrate used to compose the poultry litter.

SPT-T: test procedure and applications

Ranzini (1988) proposed the Standard Penetration Test with torque measurement (SPT-T) and some geotechnical engineers in Brazil have been using it since 1991. This paper presents the state of the art on SPT-T testing, emphasizing what is already established as common knowledge in Brazilian engineering practice, besides a suggestion for test procedure, including equipment and practical aspects. In addition, the study of the shape of the torque versus rotation-degree angle curve obtained by an electric torquemeter used in several SPT-T tests carried out on six experimental research sites in the southeast region of Brazil is discussed here. Four different methods to predict pile capacity based on SPT-T test results are briefly presented and a comparison with load tests carried out on different types of piles, on those six experimental research sites, is presented.

Paraná Basin: Mineral resource potentials in Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay

The Paraná Basin is a Western Gondwanan cratonic basin that is better defined as the Paraná depositional site, since it has a diverse history as a basin. Sedimentation started in the Ordovician-Silurian, followed by extensive marine Devonian deposition. A Late Paleozoic/ Triassic facies cycle wedge was clearly built during Pangean time. The Early Cretaceous was characterized by extensive basaltic lava flows immediately before the break-up of Pangea. Following these rifting and drifting processes, the basin's structural framework was totally rebuilt, generating new depositional sites in the Late Cretaceous to Tertiary. Based on more recent data, at least two different basins may be defined during the evolution of what was once considered a unique basin. Nevertheless, even if considered as a single basin, the sedimentary pile of the Paraná Basin has considerable economic potential, until now exploited only rudimentarily, except for its groundwater resources. Aggregates, limestones, clays, industrial sands, gems, dimension stones, hydrocarbons, coal, peat, and uranium are some of the potential mineral resources of this basin. Copyright © 1997 by V. H. Winston & Son, Inc. All rights reserved.

Tectonics and paleogeography along the Amazon river

The main structural and geomorphological features along the Amazon River are closely associated with Mesozoic and Cenozoic tectonic events. The Mesozoic tectonic setting is characterised by the Amazonas and Marajó Basins, two distinct extensional segments. The Amazonas Basin is formed by NNE-SSW normal faults, which control the emplacement of dolerite dykes and deposition of the sedimentary pile. In the more intense tectonic phase (mid-Late Cretaceous), the depocentres were filled with fluvial sequences associated with axial drainage systems, which diverge from the Lower Tapajós Arch. During the next subsidence phase, probably in the Early Tertiary, and under low rate extension, much of the drainage systems reversed, directing the paleo-Amazon River to flow eastwards. The Marajó Basin encompasses NW-SE normal faults and NE-SW strike-slip faults, with the latter running almost parallel to the extensional axes. The normal faults controlled the deposition of thick rift and post-rift sequences and the emplacement of dolerite dykes. During the evolution of the basin, the shoulder (Gurupá Arch) became distinct, having been modelled by drainage systems strongly controlled by the trend of the strike-slip faults. The Arari Lineament, which marks the northwest boundary of the Marajó Basin, has been working as a linkage corridor between the paleo and modern Amazon River with the Atlantic Ocean. The neotectonic evolution since the Miocene comprises two sets of structural and geomorphological features. The older set (Miocene-Pliocene) encompasses two NE-trending transpressive domains and one NW-trending transtensive domain, which are linked to E-W and NE-SW right-lateral strike-slip systems. The transpressive domains display aligned hills controlled by reverse faults and folds, and are separated by large plains associated with pull-apart basins along clockwise strike-slip systems (e.g. Tupinambarana Lineament). Many changes were introduced in the landscape by the transpressive and transtensive structures, such as the blockage of major rivers, which evolved to river-lakes, transgression of the sea over a large area in the Marajó region, and uplift of long and narrow blocks that are oblique to the trend of the main channel. The younger set (Pliocene-Holocene) refers to two triple-arm systems of rift/rift/strike-slip and strike-slip/strike-slip/rift types, and two large transtensive segments, which have controlled the orientation of the modern drainage patterns. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Aplicação do Índice Relaçáo Declividade-Extensão - RDE Na Bacia do Rio do Peixe (SP) para Detecção de Deformações Neotectô nicas

This paper presents the identification of tectonic deformation through the application of the stream-gradient index (slope x length) method in the Rio do Peixe hydrographic basin, located in western State of Sã o Paulo. The main principle used is that river valleys are the best tools for this type of analysis because of their fast adjustment to even the most gentle crustal deformations. This type of analysis for structural studies is extremely useful in the western region of the State of São Paulo, where deep chemical weathering results in a thick regolith and scarce outcrops. The stream length index is the ratio of the altimetric amplitude of each drainage and the natural logarithm of its length. The value obtained is plotted on maps at the median point of each drainage, allowing the drawings of lines with the same values (isodefs). Three anomalies (A, B and C) were identified along the Rio do Peixe valley representing uplift sectors indicated by the formation and distribution of Upper Quaternary deposits in terraces and modern fluvial plains and alluvial fans. In correlation with known tectonic data for this region it is possible to attribute the A and B anomalies to the Ribeirão Preto and Presidente Prudente crustal sutures, respectively. The smaller C anomaly needs further field investigation, but it could be associated with the Três Lagoas crustal suture. It must be emphasised that these sutures are inherited from the Precambrian Basement which had a strong influence on the Phanerozoic evolution in the whole sedimentary and volcanic stratigraphic pile of the Paraná Basin and on the dominant structural lineaments directions developed therein .The A, Band C anomalies are suggestive of renewed uplift as a result of neotectonic action in modern times.