Triaxial Testing of Soils

It has been 10 years since publication of the first edition of Soils of the Past. In that time the subject of paleopedology has grown rapidly, and established itself within the mainstream of geological research. Ancient soils contain vital mineralogical, geochemical, textural, and paleontological information about the continental environments in which they formed. Advances in isotope geochemistry and sequence-stratigraphic models allow more detailed reconstructions of environmental change from paleosols and new insights into diverse topics like atmospheric chemistry, global change, palaeoecology, geobiology and mass extinction. This fully updated second edition of soils of the past gives describes the main types of ancient soil, procedures for their recognition and study, their classification and, most significantly, a wide array of examples of how paleosols have been used for paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Soils of the Past is written for advanced undergraduates studying paleopedology as part of a degree in geology, environmental science, or physical geography, and for interested professional earth scientists. In the last few years however palaeopedology has become an established discipline in its own right, so the time is ripe for a new edition. This new book will be a good reflection of the current state of knowledge and be widely adopted. First edition was very well received and sold over 1500 copies when the subject was relatively new. The field has now grown enormously and the second edition should do considerably better. The new edition covers new developments in the field such as: Soils and Climate, stable isotope analysis of soils, soils and sequence stratigraphy. This edition represents the only available overview of the subject at this level.

Forest soils are the foundation of the entire forest ecosystem and complex, long-term interactions between trees, soil animals, and the microbial community shape soils in was that are very distinct from agricultural soils. The composition, structure, and processes in forest soils at any given time reflect current conditions, as well as the legacies of decades (and even millennia) of interactions that shape each forest soil. Reciprocal interactions are fundamental; vegetation alters soil physical properties, which influence soil biology and chemistry, which in turn influence the growth and success of plants. These dynamic systems may be strongly influenced by intentional and unintentional management, ranging from fire to fertilization. Sustaining the long-term fertility of forest soils depends on insights about a diverse array of soil features and changes over space and time. Since the third edition of this successful book many new interests in forest soils and their management have arisen, including the role of forest soils in sequestering carbon, and how management influences rates of carbon accumulation. This edition also expands the consideration of how soils are sampled and characterized, and how tree species differ in their influence on soil development. Clearly structured throughout, the book opens with the origins of forest soil science and ends with the application of soil science principles to land management. This new edition provides: A completely revised and updated Fourth Edition of this classic textbook in the field A coherent overview of the major issues surrounding the ecology and management of forest soils Global in scope with coverage of soil types ranging from the tropical rainforest soils of Latin America to the boreal forest soils of Siberia New chapters on Management: Carbon sequestration; Evidence-based approaches and applications of geostatistics, GIS and taxonomies A clear overview of each topic, informative examples/case studies, and an overall context for helping readers think clearly about forest soils An introduction to the literature of forest soil science and to the philosophy of forest soil science research This coherent overview of the major issues surrounding the ecology and management of forest soils will be particularly useful to students taking courses in soil science, forestry, agronomy, ecology, natural resource management, environmental management and conservation, as well as professionals in forestry dealing with the productivity of forests and functioning of watersheds.

The testing market is growing at a fast pace and ISTQB certifications are being increasingly requested, with more than 180,000 persons currently certified throughout the world. The ISTQB Foundations level syllabus was updated in 2011, and this book provides detailed course study material including a glossary and sample questions to help adequately prepare for the certification exam. The fundamental aspects of testing are approached, as is testing in the lifecycles from Waterfall to Agile and iterative lifecycles. Static testing, such as reviews and static analysis, and their benefits are examined as well as techniques such as Equivalence Partitioning, Boundary Value Analysis, Decision Table Testing, State Transitions and use cases, along with selected white box testing techniques. Test management, test progress monitoring, risk analysis and incident management are covered, as are the methods for successfully introducing tools in an organization. Contents 1. Fundamentals of Testing. 2. Testing Throughout the Software Life Cycle. 3. Static Techniques (FL 3.0). 4. Test Design Techniques (FL 4.0). 5. Test Management (FL 5.0). 6. Tools support for Testing (FL 6.0). 7. Mock Exam. 8. Templates and Models. 9. Answers to the Questions.

An understanding of the mechanical properties of unsaturated soils is crucial for geotechnical engineers worldwide, as well as to those concerned with the interaction of structures with the ground. This book deals principally with fine-grained clays and silts, or soils containing coarser sand and gravel particles but with a significant percentage of fines. The study of unsaturated soil is a practical subject, linking fundamental science to nature. Soils in general are inherently variable and their behaviour is not easy to analyse or predict, and unsaturated soils raise the complexity to a higher level. Even amongst practicing engineers, there is often lack of awareness of the intricacies of the subject. This book offers a perspective of unsaturated soils based on recent research and demonstrates how this dovetails with the general discipline of soil mechanics. Following an introduction to the basic soil variables, the phases, the phase interactions and the relevance of soil structure, an up-to-date review of laboratory testing techniques is presented. This includes suction measurement and control techniques in triaxial cell testing. This is followed by an introduction to stress state variables, critical state and theoretical models in unsaturated soils. A detailed description of the thermodynamic principles as applied to multi-phase materials under equilibrium conditions follows. These principles are then used to explore and develop a fundamental theoretical basis for analysing unsaturated soils. Soil structure is broken down into its component parts to develop equations describing the dual stress regime. The critical state strength and compression characteristics of unsaturated soils are examined and it is shown how the behaviour may be viewed as a three-dimensional model in dimensionless stress-volume space. The analysis is then extended to the work input into unsaturated soils and the development of conjugate stress, volumetric and strain-increment variables. These are used to examine the micromechanical behaviour of kaolin specimens subjected to triaxial shear strength tests and lead to observations not detectable by other means. Unsaturated Soils: A fundamental interpretation of soil behaviour covers a rapidly advancing area of study, research and engineering practice and offers a deeper appreciation of the key characteristics of unsaturated soil. It provides students and researchers with a framework for understanding soil behaviour and demonstrates how to interpret experimental strength and compression data. provides engineers with a deeper appreciation of key characteristics of unsaturated soils covers a rapidly advancing area of study, research and engineering practice provides students and researchers a framework for understanding soil behaviour shows how to interpret experimental data on strength and compression the limited number of books on the subject are all out of date

This book invites the reader to look differently at two seemingly mundane resources: soil and water. Water possesses extraordinary properties which form the foundations of life itself. Without water, there would be no life, and without soils, no terrestrial life. The interaction between soils and water is therefore fundamental to the habitability of Earth’s land surface. Through in-depth analyses and experimentation, Soils as a Key Component of the Critical Zone 3 explores the circulation of water in soils. Through its properties, soil directs the path of water, leading it to wet soils or not, be absorbed by plants, infiltrate or runoff, concentrate in certain areas or flood. The potentially catastrophic consequences of such floods are often due to the absence or insufficiency of prevention measures. This book thus shows the ways in which the relationship between water, life and soils is much more than a simple series of interactions or phenomena at interfaces and in fact constitutes a system with definite properties.

This book provides the most up-to-date knowledge on water in soils and applications for the best use of our water resources. It first addresses the influence of soils on water quality, which is linked to rock weathering, soil formation, acidity and waterlogging. Here, the constituents of soils – such as clay minerals and iron oxides – play a major role. These modifications also have an impact on biogeochemical processes at the global scale, including the carbon cycle and the composition of the atmosphere. Secondly, this book discusses soil salinity, alkalinity and sodification in climates spanning from Mediterranean to arid. Here, water quality results from the concentration of solutes by evaporation and the transpiration of plants. The proper management of irrigation both protects soils against acidification and ensures sustainable agroecological development, while improper management leads to soil degradation and groundwater overexploitation. Lastly, the book describes how excess transfer of phosphorus in lakes results from a cascade of liberation and immobilization in the structure of the surrounding landscape. This leads to a general integrative method to limit eutrophication and restore the quality of water bodies.

Nondestructive Testing involves the use of methods such as wave propagation, electromagnetism, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity to test structural integrity and thereby allow nondestructive assessment of structures and the possibility of structural failures before they occur. Nondestructive Testing of Deep Foundations covers different techniques designed to provide information about the integrity and quality of the material that makes up a deep foundation. Nondestructive Testing methods are used at all stages of a structure's life – from new construction quality control to residual lifetime prediction, and even during the monitoring of demolition. In addition, Nondestructive Testing is being increasingly specified in deep foundation projects, though often without a good understanding of its limitations and with the result that methods are often misused. In order to be able to specify an appropriate method, or to recognize an inappropriate specification, it is necessary for the engineer, specifier and/or contractor to understand the capabilities and limitations of each of the methods currently in use. Nondestructive Testing of Deep Foundations: Describes the most commonly used deep foundation construction techniques, including typical use of material Provides a brief history of the development of commercially available nondestructive methods Summarises each method's capabilities and limitations Acts as a one stop reference drawing together resources only previously available in conference proceedings and journal papers This manual will prove to be a welcome addition to the bookshelf of all practitioners in civil/structural and geotechnical engineering and architecture. It will also provide a valuable insight into this highly technical field for university researchers, lecturers and postgraduate students in civil/structural and geotechnical engineering.

The expert contributors to Nondestructive Testing of Food Quality clearly explain present industry advances and how to turn available instrumentation into valuable assets. Readers learn how the competencies of product knowledge, process understanding, instrumentation, principles of sensing, process control, and analytical methodology are required to turn an application into success. The broad-based coverage of topics addresses the most dominant sensor technologies keeping in mind the research initiatives advancing these technologies not only in food but also in the pharmaceutical sectors. Coverage includes: ultrasound, near infrared spectroscopy, mid-infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, hyperspectral imaging systems, magnetic resonance imaging, electronic nose, z-nose, biosensors, microwave absorption, and nanoparticles and colloids as sensors.

Provides authoritative guidance on statistical analysis techniques and inferential methods for one-shot device life-testing Estimating the reliability of one-shot devices—electro-expolsive devices, fire extinguishers, automobile airbags, and other units that perform their function only once—poses unique analytical challenges to conventional approaches. Due to how one-shot devices are censored, their precise failure times cannot be obtained from testing. The condition of a one-shot device can only be recorded at a specific inspection time, resulting in a lack of lifetime data collected in life-tests. Accelerated Life Testing of One-shot Devices: Data Collection and Analysis addresses the fundamental issues of statistical modeling based on data collected from accelerated life-tests of one-shot devices. The authors provide inferential methods and procedures for planning accelerated life-tests, and describe advanced statistical techniques to help reliability practitioners overcome estimation problems in the real world. Topics covered include likelihood inference, competing-risks models, one-shot devices with dependent components, model selection, and more. Enabling readers to apply the techniques to their own lifetime data and arrive at the most accurate inference possible, this practical resource: Provides expert guidance on comprehensive data analysis of one-shot devices under accelerated life-tests Discusses how to design experiments for data collection from efficient accelerated life-tests while conforming to budget constraints Helps readers develops optimal designs for constant-stress and step-stress accelerated life-tests, mainstream life-tests commonly used in reliability practice Includes R code in each chapter for readers to use in their own analyses of one-shot device testing data Features numerous case studies and practical examples throughout Highlights important issues, problems, and future research directions in reliability theory and practice Accelerated Life Testing of One-shot Devices: Data Collection and Analysis is essential reading for graduate students, researchers, and engineers working on accelerated life testing data analysis.