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1
Sheikh, Alireza. "The meanings of corporate branding : perceptions of engineering professionals in three British engineering consultancies." Thesis, University of Leicester, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2381/11062.
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Corporate branding research has developed fairly rapidly over the past fifteen years. Insights from a diversity of contexts have contributed significantly to the development of the concept. However, extant studies still, by large, remain under the purview of marketing and insights from non-marketing perspectives are very limited. Furthermore, the viewpoint of employees in engineering-intensive contexts is widely understudied. Hence, this thesis aims to shed further empirical light on the meanings and implications of corporate branding from the perspective of engineers in the context of three British engineering consulting companies. An interpretive, qualitative and inductive approach through case study research design is adopted as the methodology of this thesis. Findings revealed the meanings and implications of corporate branding as well as the reasons for engineers’ disengagement with the corporate brand initiatives. Emergent themes and findings are presented through six organizing themes: the inter-dynamism and mutual implications of personal brands and the corporate brand, the tensions between the two organizing structures of professional partnership and corporation, the conduct of corporate branding and corporate brand communication, the implications of economic downturns for the corporate brand, the engineering-marketing dichotomy and its implications for the corporate brand and, last, the association between organizational culture, organizational identity and the corporate brand.
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Saito, Kentaro. "Toolmakers and craft structure in the British engineering industry 1921-41." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.620332.
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Hunter, Kathleen Allison. "Gender and science in twentieth-century British engineering : an interdisciplinary analysis." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.669883.
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Wilson, Nicholas. "Cooperation, control and productivity : an analysis of participation and profit-sharing in British engineering." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 1990. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.278820.
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Thomson, Fiona Mhairi. "Freeze-thaw experiments on some British soils." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2002. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/59552/.
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Relic periglacial solifluction features cover most of Britain, particularly the Midlands and the South, causing serious and continuing earthwork and construction problems. Although the engineering significance of the presence of periglacial solifluction deposits is widely appreciated, the mechanics of emplacement of these deposits has received surprisingly little attention. The principal objective of the research has been to investigate the freeze-thaw behaviour of some clay soils in Britain which have been exposed to periglacial conditions. The behaviour was examined using a Permafrost Oedometer or Permode, based on the apparatus used by Morgenstern and Smith, (1973). Tests have been carried out on Lias Clay, Weald Clay and Oxford Clay. In each test, a specimen was placed under an applied stress and subjected to 24 hour cycles of freezing and thawing. Freezing was mainly imposed from the top of the specimen downwards. The tests were carried out undrained. The pore water pressures were found to increase as a result of cyclic freeze-thaw conditions. Greater pore water pressures were generally recorded at the top than at the base of the specimen. This was considered to be due to moisture migration towards the freezing front during freezing, and impeded filtration, (due to underlying frozen material), during thaw. The significance of the additional pore water pressures in terms of slope stability was considered. A semi-infinite slope analysis model was used primarily, but reference was made to other, similar research. The analysis found that the predicted slope angle of failure is reduced significantly by relatively low increases in pore water pressure. Greater increases in pore water pressure are gained for soils of lower residual shear strength/higher plasticity. It was determined that the generation of excess pore water pressure and corresponding decrease in residual strength have considerable implications for the stability of slopes previously exposed to periglacial conditions.
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Martins, Lola-Peach. "The strategic management of first-tier-managers : a British Aerospace engineering manufacturing company case study." Thesis, Middlesex University, 2008. http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/8361/.
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A framework, which encompasses the key factors influencing the first-tier-manager's (FTM's) human resource management (HRM) performance, is critical in terms of achieving strategic fit at the FTM's level.More recently, studies have shown that using an integrated framework as a management tool can yield enormous organisational benefits, for example, in terms of operations (Shamar et al, 2007), and optimising learning (Serpell and Ferrada, 2007, Robotham, 2004, May ). Previous studies, such as May (1999) - developing competencies in fast changing environments have also presented similar findings. The crucial HRM role of FTMs being the subject of renewed attention in the last few years, marked by burgeoning studies on HRM devolution and the growing concerns associated with the FTM's performance in this regard, gives credence to the above conclusion. From a historical perspective, the HRM role of FTMs has been through three core phases, and is currently in the FORTH phase, which shows no signs of abating. Evidentially, the past decade has seen employers establishing more devolved management structures that place more emphasis on local level managerial decision-making. An important component of this shift in many has been the re-configuration of the role of FTMs to encompass a wider range of HRM responsibilities because of the crucial influence that FTMs can exert over worker attitudes and motivation (Purcell et al, 2003). At the same time, the available evidence also indicates that, in practice, whilst the FTM's performance of this role has been successful on the one had, in contrast it has often proved to be problematic. Four typical factors have been identifîed as contributing to the success of the FTM's HRM role. Against this background, this research has used detailed case study evidence to explore how far the success or otherwise, of such a process of change is explicable in terms of the role played by the FOUR inevitably interrelated, sets of factors: the perceptions and attitudes of FTMs; the extent to which their new role is defined; the degree to which Us introduction is linked to the provision of appropriate training and development opportunities; and the extent to which ail this is integrated into the broader way in which the organisation is structured and operates. The findings obtained from AeroCo, served to highlight the relevance of all of these factors and, in doing so, pointed to the fact that to be successful in attempts to reform the role of FTMs, need to take due cognisance of all of them, that is as a diagnostic tool to develop a strategic framework for managing FTMs. In short, the study's findings highlight the fact that those that wish to enhance the HRM role of FTMs need to adopt a strategic approach towards achieving this objective. They further indicate that such an approach needs to encompass both 'vertical' and 'horizontal' dimensions. Thus, regarding the former, the strategic approach has to extend to ensuring that the new role not only 'fits' with operational business needs, but also wider management decision-making structures. Meanwhile, in relation to the latter, the strategic approach needs to encompass a close integration between all aspects of relevant human resource activities. Consequently, the findings point to the fact that human resource functions wishing to devolve aspects of their activities to FTMs need to think through carefully how this can be done in a way, which is compatible with the wider cultural, structural, and operational features of the organisational environment. In other words to ensure that any such change is pursued in an integrated rather than 'isolated', narrowly functional-based, manner.
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Mendonça, Sandro. "The evolution of new combinations : drivers of British maritime engineering competitiveness during the nineteenth century." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2012. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/39708/.
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This work is an attempt to explore early British steamship innovation during the 19th century from the point of view of innovation studies. The proposed analytical framework draws on neo-Schumpeterian and evolutionary economics for understanding the patterns and factors behind the phenomenon of technical change in the capital good under analysis. The thesis aims at filling a gap in the maritime economic and technological history literature, namely the issues connected to the process through which modern (mechanically-propelled, iron-hulled, screw-driven) ocean transportation emerged. Two inter-related research questions are addressed: how and why did steamships evolve in the course of the 19th century? In other words, the present research focuses on describing the dynamics of technological evolution and on identifying the key drivers of those developments. While the thesis includes a review of the relevant literature (Part I), the main work consists of original empirical research (Parts II and III). The bulk of this work primarily rests on the compilation of two new main bodies of quantitative and qualitative evidence. First, a previously unpublished dataset on the population and characteristics of steamers is used to measure the rate and direction of technical change in steamers. Second, previously unpublished archival material is used to reconstruct the innovation processes of marine engineers and naval architects and the civil society arrangements around them. The results suggest a number of stylised facts and institutional variables that have been subject to little discussion in the extant literature. On one hand, time-series and other statistical analyses suggest a technological “take-off” of steamship performance by the mid-19th century. This turning point, which was the outcome of a complex but rapid process of structural reconfiguration (the transition from wood-paddle to iron-screw as the new “dominant design”), occurred between the late 1830s and the late 1840s particularly among cargo traders and unsubsidised packets. On the other hand, documentary evidence shows that such technological breakthroughs were preceded and supported by a specific set of institutional innovations. These included the emergence of voluntary engineering associations, technical mass media and a not-for-profit ship classification society within the British national system of innovation. The thesis argues that the process of revolutionary technological innovation leading to the economically efficient long-haul merchant steamer cannot be separated from the rise of a vibrant interactive environment promoting learning, knowledge integration and technological accumulation, which may be called a “technological public sphere”.
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Manak, Harminder S. "Hydroxyl functionalities of middle rank british coals." Thesis, Aston University, 1996. http://publications.aston.ac.uk/9672/.
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Most of the new processes involving the utilisation of coal are based on hydroliquefaction, and in order to assess the suitability of the various coals for this purpose and to characterise coals in general, it is desirable to have a detailed and accurate knowledge of their chemical constitution and reactivity. Also, in the consumption of coals as chemical feed stocks, as in hydroliquefaction, it is advantageous to classify the coals in terms of chemical parameters as opposed to, or in addition to, carbonisation parameters. In view of this it is important to realise the functional groups on the coal hydrocarbon skeleton. In this research it was attempted to characterise coals of various rank (and subsequently their macerals) via methods involving both microwave-driven and bench top derivatisation of the hydroxyl functionalities present in coal. These hydroxyl groups are predominantly in the form of hindered phenolic groups, with other alcoholic groupings being less important, in the coals studied here. Four different techniques were employed, three of which - stannylation, silylation and methylation - were based on in situ analysis. The fourth technique - acetylation - involved derivatisation followed by analysis of a leaving group. The four different techniques were critically compared and it is concluded that silylation is the most promising technique for the evaluation of the hydroxyl content of middle rank coals and coal macerals. Derivatisation via stannylation using TBTO was impeded due to the large steric demand of the reagent and acetylation did not successfully derivatise the more hindered phenolic groups. Three novel methylation techniques were investigated and two of these show great potential. The information obtained from the techniques was correlated together to give a comprehensive insight into the coals and coal macerals studied.
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Nyberg, Roland, and Oskar Johansson. "Jämförelse av konstgrässystem med avseende på luftburna partiklar." Thesis, KTH, Maskinkonstruktion (Inst.), 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-230598.
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Konstgräs används i stor utsträckning och dess miljöpåverkan är omdebatterad. Oro finns över spridning av mikroplaster och dess miljöpåverkan. Flera studier på spridning av större mikroplast finns, medan spridning av luftburna partiklar är mindre väl utforskat. Studier på detta är till sin natur svåra då tester i fält försvåras av förekomsten av mätbrus i form av partiklar från trafik etc. Detta arbete syftar till att i kontrollerad miljö, genom att använda en Brittisk pendelrigg, undersöka bildandet av luftburna partiklar vid yttre påverkan på konstgräs. Skillnaden mellan olika konstgrässystem studeras, i detta fall olika typer av granulat, s.k. infill. Tester körs med de tre vanligaste granulattyperna, SBR, TPE samt EPDM. I dessa tester kan skillnad påvisas mellan EPDM gentemot de andra två typerna, där EPDM ger upphov till fler luftburna partiklar.Artificial turf is today widely used, and its environmental impact is much-debated. There are some concerns regarding the spread of microplastics and their environmental impact. Some studies regarding the spread of larger particles exist, while the impact in the form of airborne particles is less well explored. Studies on airborne particulates are quite complicated, as measuring these is made complicated by the already existing particles from traffic and such. In this study a British pendulum is utilized to, in a controlled environment, try to ascertain if a difference may exist between different types of turf. In this study the three most commonly used types of rubber granules, infill, are tested. These are SBR, TPE and EPDM. These tests show a difference in release of airborne particle between EPDM and the other two types, where EPDM generate more airborne particles.
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Rubin, Marcus. "The economic effects of shorter working hours : the 1989/91 union campaign in the British engineering industry." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 1995. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/1405/.
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This thesis analyses the impact on productivity, employment, overtime, earnings and costs of shorter working hours with particular reference to the 1989/91 campaign by the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions (CSEU). The events leading up to the CSEU campaign and the reasons for its success are investigated. One result of this union success was the end of national bargaining. The changing role of national bargaining, including why it became a casualty of reduced hours, is also examined. Research on earlier reductions in hours has tended to suggest that productivity rises as a result of reduced hours. A review of this research concludes that the productivity effect of reduced hours has been overstated. It also raises some important methodological issues. The thesis presents research on 20 engineering plants where the 37-hour week was introduced as a result of the CSEU campaign. A variety of managers and union representatives were interviewed. In addition there was a survey of engineering plants. This included plants with unchanged hours. Finally, the effect of unions on working hours in the whole economy is explored using a large data set. The research finds that when engineering hours were reduced hourly earnings typically rose so that weekly pay was unaffected, at least in the short-term. While measures to increase productivity were a feature of collective agreements on reduced hours, there is little evidence that productivity has been permanently increased by reduced hours. The productivity-increasing measures would in general have been agreed without reduced hours, albeit somewhat later in many cases. There is even less evidence that reduced hours have affected output and overtime than there is of a productivity effect. So, increased employment is left as the major consequence of reduced hours. The recession, which was at its most serious when reduced hours were implemented, had a much larger effect on employment. This makes the employment effect of reduced hours hard to observe as it mainly took the form of job retention. Increased costs may well mean that the employment effect of reduced hours is a little less than it would otherwise have been.
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Ada, Obiageli Nsugbe Emma. "Structure, curvature and movement : the application of organicism to architecture using mathematics and computer programming to generate form." Thesis, University of Bath, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.340978.
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Sperling, Antonin. "Slope stability and groundwater hydrology research for pitwall design at Equity Silver Mines Ltd., Houston, British Columbia." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1985. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/25113.
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Structural geology, groundwater, shear strength and blasting control pitwall stability at Equity Silver Mines, Houston, British Columbia. A geotechnical investigation of, these parameters was carried out in the Main Zone pit during the summer of 1984. The objective of the study was to develop a pitwall design based on geologic and groundwater conditions observed in each design sector. This thesis presents the results of the investigation; methods of improving stability by drainage and control blasting are also discussed.
Information on structural geology was obtained by line mapping of existing berms. The discodat package of computer programs was used to process the structural data and to identify trends in orientation of discontinuities. Based on this information, the Main Zone pit was divided into ten design sectors, each sector having a consistent pattern of discontinuity orientations, rock type, groundwater conditions and pit wall orientation.
Kinematically possible failure modes were identified in each design sector. Failure modes that were expected to present stability problems were analyzed to calculate factor of safety. Pit wall and berm face angles were then selected such that only a small number of potential failure modes will daylight.
The stability evaluation has shown that it should be possible to increase pitwall angles by 5〫 in the west half of the pit. However, the data base in this area of the pit is presently limited because only a small number of berms are exposed. Therefore, additional line mapping will be required before the west wall design can be finalized. Groundwater will reduce pitwall stability, especially in the east half of the Main Zone pit. Multi-berm failures are very sensitive to groundwater conditions. A dewatering system should be installed in the Main Zone pit to minimize the possibility of such failures occuring.
Wet blastholes dictate that expensive water resistant slurry explosives be used in many areas of the Main Zone pit. The dewatering system should also draw down the water table so blastholes will become dryer and less expensive ANFO can be utilized.
The magnitude of shear strength on failure surfaces is required in order to evaluate stability of potential failures. Slip tests, point load tests and back analyses of existing failures were used to determine the shear strength parameters. Further studies should be carried out to better define the parameters at higher stress levels that will develop in a multi-berm failure.
Further potential for pit steepening exists if the berm face in the volcanics can be maintained at a slightly steeper angle, e.g. 70 instead of the present 66°. It may be possible to achieve this goal if trim blasting procedures are modified to reduce blast damage to the final wall.Applied Science, Faculty of
Mining Engineering, Keevil Institute of
Graduate
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McKinley, Brett. "Large deformation structural performance of double skin composite construction using British Steel's 'Bi-Steel'." Thesis, City University London, 1999. http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/8071/.
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Double skin composite construction consists of two relatively thin steel plates with the space between filled with, usually, normal weight concrete. The transfer of shear between the steel and concrete is possible through the use of steel shear connectors that are welded to the steel plates. A study of previously published information revealed that the areas to market double skin composite construction would be submerged tube tunneling and floating offshore structures, particularly those used for the storage of crude oil. Double skin composite construction was traditionally fabricated with headed studs, as used in composite bridge construction. These were welded to each of the steel plates which were then temporarily held in place whilst the concrete was cast. This method of construction was costly in time and labour so British Steel PIc and The Steel Construction Institute developed an idea of using continuous friction welded bars. These connect to both plates to form a continuous steel structure. By manufacturing steel panels, up to 12m by 3m in a factory environment that requires no additional formwork allows great savings in time and labour during the construction process. Research on Bi-Steel, as it is known, is being carried out on numerous fronts with that detailed in this thesis being part of it. This thesis covers the overall performance aspects of strength and stiffness throughout the elastic and plastic regions of deformation and includes local buckling of the compression plate. Analytical solutions are developed for all aspects dealt with by this thesis which are supported with an experimental test programme. The test programme uses 16 full-scale, wide beam specimens that are tested in three point bending. The first series of tests carried out, which used the first two prototype Bi-Steel panels, compared the existing method of construction of double skin composites with Bi-Steel, the new method of construction. The second series of tests, divided into two parts, helped to develop the strength, stiffness and local buckling equations. The first series of tests showed that Bi-Steel was structurally the better performer. This was due to the continuous nature of the steelwork, which allowed the full strength of the steel to be achieved and structural continuity even after buckling failure. The traditional method of constructing DSC was no weaker or less stiff than its Bi-Steel counterpart, but the headed shear studs prematurely pulled out of the concrete. The second test series, which only used Bi-Steel panels, showed that an Euler analysis can be carried out to determine the buckling load of the compression plate. It also showed that the post yield gain in strength of the panels was due to strain hardening of the steel tension plate. In conclusion, it has been structurally and financially beneficial to develop Bi-Steel. The factory fabrication of the steelwork increases quality control and the unit type product allows easy on-site assembly. The structural performance of Bi-Steel is now well understood with few areas left to study which are now being addressed. The first design code has now been produced by SCI for the design of Bi-Steel components.
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Hanani, Abualseoud. "Human and computer recognition of regional accents and ethnic groups from British English speech." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2012. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/3279/.
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The paralinguistic information in a speech signal includes clues to the geographical and social background of the speaker. This thesis is concerned with automatic extraction of this information from a short segment of speech. A state-of-the-art Language Identication (ID) system, which is obtained by fusing variant of Gaussian mixture model and support vector machines, is developed and evaluated on the NIST 2003 and 2005 Language Recognition Evaluation (LRE) tasks. This system is applied to the problems of regional accent recognition for British English, and ethnic group recognition within a particular accent. We compare the results with human performance and, for accent recognition, the `text dependent' ACCDIST accent recognition measure. For the fourteen regional accents of British English in the ABI-1 corpus (good quality read speech), our language ID system achieves a recognition accuracy of 86.4%, compared with 95.18% for our best ACCDIST-based system and 58.24% for human listeners. The "Voices across Birmingham" corpus contains signicant amounts of telephone conversational speech for the two largest ethnic groups in the city of Birmingham (UK), namely the `Asian' and `White' communities. Our language ID system distinguishes between these two groups with an accuracy of 94.3% compared with 90.24% for human listeners. Although direct comparison is difficult, it seems that our language ID system performs much better on the standard twelve class NIST 2003 Language Recognition Evaluation task or the two class ethnic group recognition task than on the fourteen class regional accent recognition task. We conclude that automatic accent recognition is a challenging task for speech technology, and that the use of natural conversational speech may be advantageous for these types of paralinguistic task. One issue with conventional approaches to language ID that use high-order Gaussian Mixture Models (GMMs) and high-dimensional feature vectors is the amount of computing power that they require. Currently, multi-core Graphics Processing Units (GPUs)provide a possible solution at very little cost. In this thesis we also explore the application of GPUs to speech signal and pattern processing, using language ID as a vehicle to demonstrate their benefits. Realisation of the full potential of GPUs requires both effective coding of predetermined algorithms, and, in cases where there is a choice, selection of the algorithm or technique for a specific function that is most able to exploit the properties of the GPU. We demonstrate these principles using the NIST LRE 2003 task, which involves processing over 600 hours of speech. We focus on two parts of the system, namely the acoustic classifier, which is based on a 2048 component GMM, and the acoustic feature extraction process. In the case of the latter we compare a conventional FFT-based analysis with an FIR filter bank, both in terms of their ability to exploit the GPU architecture and language ID performance. With no increase in error rate our GPU based system, with an FIR-based front-end, completes the full NIST LRE 2003 task in 16 hours, compared with 180 hours for the more conventional FFT-based system on a standard CPU (a speed up factor of more than 11).
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Rutter, Dorian James. "From diversity to convergence : British computer networks and the Internet, 1970-1995." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2005. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/1197/.
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The Internet's success in the 21st century has encouraged analysts to investigate the origin of this network. Much of this literature adopts a teleological approach. Works often begin by discussing the invention of packet switching, describe the design and development of the ARPANET, and then examine how this network evolved into the Internet. Although the ARPANET was a seminal computer network, these accounts usually only briefly consider the many other diverse networks that existed. In addition, apart from momentary asides to alternative internetworking solutions, such as the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) seven-layer reference model, this literature concentrates exclusively on the ARPANET, the Internet, and the World Wide Web. While focusing on these subjects is important and therefore justified, it can leave the reader with the impression that the world of networking started with the ARPANET and ended with the Internet. This thesis is an attempt to help correct this misconception. This thesis analyses the evolution of British computer networks and the Internet between the years 1970 and 1995. After an introduction in Chapter 1, the thesis analyses several networks. In Chapters 2 and 3, the focus is on academic networks, especially JANET and SuperJANET. Attention moves to videotex networks in Chapter 4, specifically Prestel, and in Chapter 5, the dissertation examines electronic mail networks such as Telecom Gold and Cable & Wireless Easylink. Chapter 6 considers online services, including CompuServe, American Online, and the Microsoft Network, and the thesis ends with a conclusion in Chapter 7. All of the networks discussed used protocols that were incompatible with each other which limited the utility of the networks for their users. Although it was possible that OSI or another solution could have solved this problem, the Internet's protocols achieved this objective. This thesis shows how the networks converged around TCP/IP.
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Griffiths, Denis. "Development and decline of the British crosshead type marine propulsion diesel engine." Thesis, Liverpool John Moores University, 1994. http://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/4947/.
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Pickett, Mathew Michael. "MODELING THE PERFORMANCE AND EMISSIONS OF BRITISH GAS/LURGI-BASED INTEGRATED GASIFICATION COMBINED CYCLE SYSTEMS." NCSU, 2001. http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-20010208-005018.
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To evaluate the risks and potential pay-offs of a new technology, a systematic approach for assessment must be developed. Characterization of the performance and emissions of the technology must be made comparable to conventional and other advanced alternatives. This study deals with the design and implementation of a performance and emission model for a gasification based power system fueled with municipal solid waste (MSW) and coal in ASPEN PLUS ¨C a chemical process simulation software package. The power system modeled is an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) and has several advantages over conventional combustion plants including lower pollutant emissions; higher thermal efficiencies; and the ability to co-produce several products aside from electricity. The model was developed to analyze and quantify the expected benefits associated with MSW gasification. This research models a British Gas/Lurgi (BGL) Slagging gasifer-based IGCC power and methanol production facility firing coal and MSW. The ASPEN PLUS IGCC model consists of 153 unit operation blocks, 24 FORTRAN blocks and 32 design specifications. The performance model calculates mass and energy balances for the entire IGCC system. For validation, the model was calibrated to a design study by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) of a BGL gasifier based IGCC system (Pechtl et al., 1992). First developed and calibrated for a coal fueled IGCC system, the model was then converted to process MSW. Three fuels are used in this study: a Pittsburgh No. 8 bituminous coal; a German waste blend; and an American 75/25 percent mixture of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) and Pittsburgh No. 8 Bituminous coal. Methanol plant sizes of 10,000, 20,000 and 40,000 lb methanol/hr, each with and without recycling the methanol plant purge gas to the gas turbine, were modeled for each fuel. Regardless of the type of fuel fired, all systems were more efficient when the purge gas from the methanol plant was recycled for combustion in the gas turbine. Another trend observed between the fuels is that as a system produces more methanol, the overall thermal efficiency of the plant decreases. Systems fueled with German waste performed most efficiently, followed by the Pittsburgh coal and American waste.Compared to conventional combustion power plants, Integrated Gasification Combined Cycles are relatively new technologies promising decreased pollutant emissions and increased thermal efficiencies. Additionally, IGCC systems can co-produce chemicals, further increasing the marketability of the plant. The ASPEN PLUS model can be used with several other analysis tools and techniques. The model can be used in conjunction with life cycle analysis to quantify the benefits associated with the avoided (prevented) emissions and avoided use of virgin feedstock. Probabilistic analysis can be utilized in the model to identify which model parameters most affect performance and to quantify the uncertainty and variability associated with the system.
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Fenner, James Lyon. "'British Small Craft' : the cultural geographies of mid-twentieth century technology and display." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2014. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/14494/.
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The British Small Craft display, installed in 1963 as part of the Science Museum’s new Sailing Ships Gallery, comprised of a sequence of twenty showcases containing models of British boats—including fishing boats such as luggers, coracles, and cobles—arranged primarily by geographical region. The brainchild of the Keeper William Thomas O’Dea, the nautical themed gallery was complete with an ocean liner deck and bridge mezzanine central display area. It contained marine engines and navigational equipment in addition to the numerous varieties of international historical ship and boat models. Many of the British Small Craft displays included accessory models and landscape settings, with human figures and painted backdrops. The majority of the models were acquired by the museum during the interwar period, with staff actively pursuing model makers and local experts on information, plans and the miniature recreation of numerous regional boat types. Under the curatorship supervision of Geoffrey Swinford Laird Clowes this culminated in the temporary ‘British Fishing Boats’ Exhibition in the summer of 1936. However the earliest models dated back even further with several originating from the Victorian South Kensington Museum collections, appearing in the International Fisheries Exhibition of 1883. With the closure and removal of the Shipping Gallery in late 2012, the aim of this project is to produce a reflective historical and cultural geographical account of these British Small Craft displays held within the Science Museum. In this process it reveals the hidden stories behind the collection and individual boat models. The research therefore considers the former British Small Craft display in terms of its geographical visual and textual presentation of national and local identity, the cultural transference of knowledge from local regional areas to a national/international stage, its evocation of coastal and river landscapes, and its techniques of landscape/seascape miniaturisation in mid twentieth century Britain.
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Kozuka, Ryohei. "Studded tire wear - comparison between British Pendulum and Pin on disc testing." Thesis, KTH, Maskinkonstruktion (Avd.), 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-209485.
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Studded tires are widely used during the winter season in the Nordic countries due to their performance qualities in extreme cold temperatures, however they cause wear on the road surface. This is not only an economic problem but also a health problem due to amount of airborne wear particles that are generated. Therefore, a test method under controlled laboratory conditions for tire and road wear is needed. In this thesis,studded tire wear on concrete road samples are studied using two test equipments; a Pin on disc and a British pendulum rig test. Three different types of concrete road materials and two different types of tire stud geometries were used in the study. The road sample wear ranks the same in both test equipment’s following the rebound hardness of the concrete material. For the two studded tires samples differences in the amount of wear could be noticed. One possible explanation here is the wear dependence on the velocity due to the difference in simulated vehicle speed for the two tests equipment’s.Dubbdäck används i stor utsträckning under vintersäsongen i Norden på grund av deras prestandaegenskaper i kalla temperaturer. Ett problem med dubbdäck är att de orsakar slitage på vägytan. Detta är inte bara ett ekonomiskt problem utan också ett hälsoproblem då en del av slitaget är partiklar som är luftburna och inandningsbara. Därför finns det ett behov av testmetoder för däck och vägslitage i kontrollerad laboratoriemiljö. I denna studie utvärderas dubbdäcksnötning i två testutrustningar; den brittiska vägpendeln och en pinne-på-skiva maskin. Prov utfördes med tre olika vägvarianter av betong och två olika dubbgeometrier. Storleken på nötningen rankades den samma för de olika vägbeläggningarna i de två olika provutrustningarna. Dock så inverkade dubbgeometrin på resultatet och olika nivåer på vägslitage kunde noteras för de två dubbvarianterna i beroende på val av provutrustning. En möjlig förklaring kan vara ett hastighetsberoende av nötningen då de två olika provutrustningarna simulerar olika fordonshastigheter.
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Lawrence, Ursula. "The engineering geology of the clay-with-flints : (as shown on the British Geological Survey 1:50 000 New Series Geological sheets)." Thesis, University of Surrey, 2005. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.420056.
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McDevitt, Charlotte. "A systematic exploration of waste to guide waste reduction and resource management in the British Virgin Islands." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5506.
Full textAbstract:
Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.
This dissertation investigates how waste in the BVI can be reduced. A phenomenological approach is taken to investigate this topic. Stemming from this a systems perspective is adopted and the grounded theory methodology used. The respective methods and tools are used to analyse quantitative and qualitative data. Data collection is comprised of interviews, a literature review, participant observation and field notes.
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Singh, Val. "An exploration of male and female managers' perspectives on the meaning and assessment of commitment : cases from leading British and Swedish engineering companies." Thesis, Cranfield University, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/1826/1121.
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This thesis explores the issue of why female managers’ commitment is so often reported
as being less of that of males, despite research evidence that there is no gender
difference in levels of commitment. No previous research was found which reported
managerial meanings of “commitment”, usually conceptualised with an affective
component resulting in loyalty and effort, and a continuance component, the desire to
stay in an organisation. Meanings of “commitment” in three major engineering companies
were elicited through interviews with 37 engineering managers in the UK and Sweden.
The sample included sixteen male/female pairs matched on age, qualifications and job
position, from top, middle and junior levels of management.
The meanings important to managers were the manifested behaviours of commitment at
work. The most common of the 36 elicited meanings were task delivery, putting yourself
out, involvement, and quality. Overall, male meanings were more similar to top managers’
meanings than female meanings. Top women’s meanings were similar to those of top
men, sharing meanings of being proactive/using initiative, being ready for challenge,
being creative/innovative, and being business aware. More women overall gave
meanings oriented towards the organisation, particularly good citizen behaviours, which
would be less visible to managers, whilst more men overall gave meanings, benefiting
themselves as well as the organisation, which were very active and highly visible. Five
types of commitment meanings were identified: Virtuous, Volunteer, Virtuoso, Vanguard
and Gender-Shared.
In a later questionnaire, the sample were asked to rate the importance of their 36
meanings of commitment in terms of their own view and their perceived view of how their
organisation would rate them. Through gaps between individual and perceived
organisational ratings, tensions were identified and mapped, providing a guide for an indepth
analysis of meanings with the greatest tensions, particularly on hours over the
norm perceived to be valued more by the organisation, and on getting balance, enjoying
work, thinking of oneself as well as the organisation, and being people-concerned.
Interviewees at all levels indicated the importance of getting work/nonwork balance, most
rejecting the notion of commitment meaning working additional hours. Attitudes to
managers seeking maternity/paternity leave were reported. Through the Swedish
comparison, a trend was identified that where most male managers take extended
paternity leave, the issue which is seen as a woman’s individual problem in the UK
becomes an organisational planning issue in Sweden. Thus, perceived lesser
commitment is transformed into less unplanned availability for a short period.
The process of commitment assessment has also been explored and a number of
dimensions drawn out, particularly the tacit nature of the evidence, the subjectivity of
assessment, and the manager’s susceptibility to influence. These affect the way in which
commitment behaviours are interpreted by the manager, as both males and females use
impression management strategies to demonstrate their commitment.
The contribution of this thesis is to the commitment field, in identifying managers’
meanings of commitment, and to the women in management field, where evidence is
presented of the differences in male and female meanings of commitment, and the
importance of visibility of commitment to managers. As women’s meanings are less
visible than those of men in this sample, this suggests an explanation of why women’s
commitment is still challenged.
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Senior, Clive Richard. "Strategic and tactical management of advanced manufacturing systems : a survey of British industry." Thesis, University of Stirling, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/21899.
Full textAbstract:
British manufacturing Abstraot Companies have been slower to automate their facilities, and computerise their information systems, than many of their overseas competitors in Europe, North America and Japan. Initially, this research studied advanced manufacturing technology, (AMT), systems theory, the UK economy and investigated the underlying reasons for and against company' s decisions to automate. Automating procedures were studied for a sample of 20 Engineering companies with particular attention paid to their; systemic approach to implementing AMT, inter-business activity communications, individual company strategies, operational tactics, and implications from previous installations. This information was supported by questionnaires targeted at UK design engineers' and equipment suppliers. Interviews with Trade Unions, financial institutions, professional institutions and Government, were also arranged. The research found that correctly implemented AMT, with the optimum balance of flexibility and complexity, improved businesses' competitiveness, although many operational efficiencies could be attained merely by rationalising existing systems. When a company implements AMT it is critical that they synchronise the equipment with additional complementary systems and manufacturing resources. However, every company has their own unique solutions due to the historical evolution of factory facilities, product ranges and employee skills. The restrictive practices adopted the financial accountants and many of the Trade Union were found to restrain the rate of implementation for AMT and the move towards total integrated businesses. The research analysis yielded a ten point model for the strategic and tactical management of advanced manufacturing systems. Finally, the work concludes by identifying "accounting systems", and procedures for "designing for manufacture", as areas which deserve further investigation.
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Konanahalli, Ashwini Prakash. "Critical factors influencing British expatriates' success on international architectural, engineering and construction assignments in Sub-Saharan Africa, China, Middle East and Indian Sub-Continent." Thesis, Queen's University Belfast, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.602555.
Full textAbstract:
The main aim of this study is to investigate critical factors influencing the success of British expatriates working on International Architectural, Engineering and Construction assignments in Sub-Saharan Africa, China, Middle East and Indian Sub-Continent. Adopting a multi-criteria perspective, the study measured cross-cultural adjustment, psychological adjustment, performance, assignment completion, job satisfaction and intention to return, to holistically assess the topic. Underpinned by critical realism epistemology, a sequential exploratory mixed methods design was adopted comprising of three empirical phases. Phase one is characterised by extensive review of literature to identify relevant factors. The second phase was a qualitative exploration of factors from • the British expatriate's perspective, here eighteen unstructured interviews were conducted which were further analysed through Banaxia decision explorer software to develop a ' theoretical framework. In final phase three, factors extracted from the first two phases were used to develop a questionnaire and survey 191 British expatriates. Along with various quantitative analyses, structural equation modelling was conducted to examine the relationships between various critical factors. The results revealed that Emotional and Cultural Intelligence collectively referred to as individual competencies significantly influenced cross-cultural adjustment. Here, cross-cultural adjustment emerged as a mediator, which established statistically significant relationships with performance; job satisfaction and psychological adjustment. Further, support offered by organisation predicted an expatriate's job satisfaction, psychological adjustment and adjustment of his/her family. On the job front, it was role clarity, discretion and conflict that influenced job satisfaction. Finally, family adjustment and job satisfaction determined an expatriate's intention to recommend and return back to the host country. The findings imply that effective expatriate management is a key determinant of • success in international business. British AEC firms could sustain their already established competitive advantage in the global marketplace by acknowledging the complexity of assignments, prioritising expatriate management and offering well rounded support to their professionals.
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Naylor, A. W. "The cultural and historical geographies of onshore oil exploration in the British East Midlands during the 20th century." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2016. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35862/.
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This thesis tells the hitherto neglected story of onshore oil exploration in the British East Midlands from 1908 to 1964. Drawing on a series of case studies it provides a regional historical geography, connecting science and industry to the exploratory field science of geology. During the period examined, two low key discoveries – Hardstoft, in Derbyshire (1919), and Eakring, in Nottinghamshire (1939) - altered Britain’s energy prospects, supplementing coal with liquid mineral oil. Using archival research methods and oral testimonies, the thesis reveals how a diverse assemblage of earth scientists, oilfield technologies and techniques, institutions and private companies developed a regional laboratory for oil exploration. Liquid energy fuelled heated political debates over land nationalisation and private ownership rights, the science of subsurface quantification and governance, and the role of industry in exploration. Though small when compared with global consumption and production figures, oil discovered in the British East Midlands provided a time critical supply of oil during World War Two. It also facilitated technological advances in oilfield development, contributed towards a new arm of economic geology (geophysics) and encouraged earth scientists to think of territory as a three dimensional entity, extending beneath, as well as along the land surface.
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Montalti, Luca. "Heave of large excavations in clay: modelling and analysis of two british case-histories." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2010. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/1166/.
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ABSTRACT
Il presente lavoro vuole introdurre la problematica del rigonfiamento del terreno a seguito di grandi scavi in argilla.
Il sollevamento del terreno dopo lo scavo può passare inosservato ma sono numerosi i casi in cui il rigonfiamento dura per molti anni e addirittura decenni, Shell Centre, London, Lion Yard, Cambridge, Bell Common, London, ecc.
Questo rigonfiamento il più delle volte è impedito dalla presenza di fondazioni, si genera quindi una pressione distribuita che se non considerata in fase di progetto può portare alla fessurazione della fondazione stessa.
L’anima del progetto è la modellazione e l’analisi del rigonfiamento di grandi scavi in argilla, confrontando poi i risultati con i dati reali disponibili in letteratura.
L’idea del progetto nasce dalla difficoltà di ottenere stime e previsioni attendibili del rigonfiamento a seguito di grandi scavi in argilla sovraconsolidata.
Inizialmente ho esaminato la teoria e i fattori che influenzano il grado e la velocità del rigonfiamento, quali la rigidezza, permeabilità, fessurazione, struttura del suolo, etc. In seguito ho affrontato lo studio del comportamento rigonfiante di argille sovraconsolidate a seguito di scarico tensionale (scavi), si è evidenziata l’importanza di differenziare il rigonfiamento primario e il rigonfiamento secondario dovuto al fenomeno del creep.
Il tema centrale del progetto è l’analisi numerica tramite Flac di due grandi scavi in argilla, Lion Yard, Cambridge, e, Bell Common, London.
Attraverso una dettagliata analisi parametrica sono riuscito a trovare i migliori parametri che modellano il comportamento reale nei due casi in esame, in questo modo è possibile arrivare a stime e previsioni attendibili del fenomeno rigonfiante del terreno a seguito di grandi scavi.
Gli scavi modellati Lion Yard e Bell Common sono rispettivamente in Gault Clay e London Clay, grazie a famosi recenti articoli scientifici sono riuscito a evidenziare la principali propietà che diversificano i due terreni in esame, tali propietà sono estremamente differenti dalle normali caratteristiche considerate per la progettazione in presenza di terreno argilloso; sono così riuscito a implementare i migliori parametri per descrivere il comportamento dei due terreni nei diversi modelli.
Ho inoltre studiato l’interazione terreno-struttura, la pressione esercitata dal rigonfiamento del terreno è strettamente funzione delle caratteristiche di connesione tra fondazione superficiale e muro di sostegno, tale pressione non deve essere ignorata in fase progettuale poichè può raggiungere importanti valori.
Nello scavo di Lion Yard, considerando la presenza delle fondazioni profonde ho evidenziato il fatto che il rigonfiamento crea una forza distribuita di taglio tra i pali di fondazione ed il terreno, anche tale sollecitazione dovrebbe essere considerata ai fini della progettazione.
La problematica non si ferma solo sull’interazione terreno-fondazioni, infatti durante gli scavi di importanti fondazioni londinesi lo scarico tensionale ha creato uno spostamento significativo positivo verso la superfice di tratti di tunnel della metropolita, questo fenomeno può creare seri problemi di sicurezza nella rete dei trasporti pubblici.
Infine sono stati messi a confronto i risultati del programma Flac con quelli di metodi semplificati, ho trovato che utilizzando il metodo iterativo di O’Brien i risultati sono simili alla realtà e il tempo di calcolo è molto inferiore di quello richiesto utilizzando Flac, 2-3 giorni.
In conclusione posso affermare che grazie ad una dettagliata analisi parametrica è stato possibile stimare il rigonfiamento del terreno, argilla sovraconsolidata, nei due casi analizzati.
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Davey, James. "War, naval logistics and the British state : supplying the Baltic fleet 1808-1812." Thesis, University of Greenwich, 2009. http://gala.gre.ac.uk/5653/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis analyses the victualling system that distributed provisions to the Royal Navy fleet in the Baltic between 1808 and 1812, asking how it was done and with what success, measuring its performances over time. It covers the operational and strategic consequences of an improving logistical service, but also enables significant judgements to be made on the 18th century state, its performance under pressure of war, the public-private relationship, and the links between supply and diplomacy. The transportation of provisions to the Baltic posed serious problems for naval administrators, politicians, and admirals alike. This thesis shows that in practice, naval supply was conducted very effectively; operations in the Baltic were not harmed for want of provisions. The state used the resources of the private sector, particularly the market for shipping, to serve its interests. In the Baltic itself, means were found to secure provisions locally, even from countries in conflict with Britain. Sweden – forced into an unwanted war with Britain by Napoleon – was happy to supply the British though it required much discretion and diplomatic intrigue to avoid the ears of the French spies. Wide scale governmental reform, particularly the Commission for Naval Revision which reported from 1809, brought enhanced timeliness and efficiency to the victualling service. By 1810 a fleet lying in the Baltic was as well supplied as one lying off Deptford, significantly widening operational capabilities. The successful British blockade in the Baltic could not have been achieved twenty years earlier. It is argued that administrative developments created a strategic watershed, after which naval power could be more fully mobilised than ever before.
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Burke, Shaun. "The chemistry of British bituminous coals : an assessment of phase transfer catalysed reactions in the determination of coal structure." Thesis, Aston University, 1988. http://publications.aston.ac.uk/9727/.
Full textAbstract:
Three British bituminous coals, (Gedling, Cresswell, and Cortonwood Silkstone) were selected for study. Procedures were developed, using phase transfer catalysts (PTC's), to degrade the solvent insoluble fractions of the coals. PTC's are of interest because they have the potential to bring about selective high conversion reactions, under mild conditions, (often in the past, severe reaction conditions have had to be used to degrade the coals, this in turn resulted in the loss of much of the structural information). We have applied a variety of physical and chemical techniques to maximise the amount of structural information, these include, elemental analysis, 1H-NMR, 13C-CPMAS-NMR, GPC, GC-MS, FTIR spectroscopy, DRIFT spectroscopy, and gas adsorption measurements. The main conclusions from the work are listed below:- ( 1 ) PTC O-methylation; This reaction removes hydrogen bonds within the coal matrix by 'capping' the phenolic groups. It was found that the polymer-like matrix could be made more flexible, but not significantly more soluble, by O-methylation. I.E. the trapped or 'mobile' phase of the coals could be removed at a faster rate after this reaction had been carried out. ( 2 ) PTC Reductive and Acidic Ether Cleavage; The three coals were found to contain insignificant amounts of dialkyl and alkyl aryl ethers. The number of diaryl ethers could not be estimated, by reductive ether cleavage, (even though a high proportion of all three coals was solublised). The majority of the ethers present in the coals were inert to both cleavage methods, and are therefore assumed to be heterocyclic ethers. ( 3 ) Trif!uoroperacetic Acid Oxidation; This oxidant was used to study the aliphatic portions of the polymer-like macromolecular matrix of the coals. Normally this reagent will only solublise low rank coals, we however have developed a method whereby trifluoroperacetic acid can be used to degrade high rank bituminous coals. ( 4 ) PTC/Permanganate Oxidation; This reagent has been found to be much more selective than the traditional alkaline permanganate oxidation, with a lot more structural information being retained within the various fractions. This degradative method therefore has the potential of yielding new information about the molecular structure of coals.
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Dharasura, Snehith. "Buckling analysis of steel H beam-columns using Finite Elements, British Standards and Eurocodes." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2018.
Find full textAbstract:
Steel is undoubtedly the most common material in construction. Most of the structures in the world are built with steel and all of them comprise of small and slender elements which are used for the framing of the structure. The elements are classified based on the forces that are expected on them. So, these elements form an integral part of the structure and have to be designed against all the forces that may act on them in their lifetime so that the structure serves its intended purpose without causing any architectural damages while keeping the safety and convenience of the people using the structure as the priority. Since structures play a key role in everyday life and involve a lot of money and safety of people, a structural designer must follow the regulations adopted and accepted by the country which confirms the quality of the structures where the structure is going to be built. To ensure the safety of the structure Each country follows regulations which are formulated depending on a spectrum of local conditions prevailing in that country.
After the standardization of Structural design in Europe, UK shifted from their traditional British Standards to Eurocodes. In most of the cases, Eurocodes is more sophisticated than British Standard since it is meant to be improvement of the latter.
In British Standards, BS5950 deals with the Steel design while in its counterpart Eurocodes, the design of steel is discussed in EC3. But, many have concerns with the method discussed in the Eurocode for the Buckling problem of the Beam-Columns because it is so complicated and is hectic to perform, while the method mentioned in the British Standard is simple and direct. Since there is not much research published in this area, the aim of this Project is to compare both the codes with the FEA results of the Beam-Columns of various cross-sections and lengths subjected to a range of load-moment combinations to check if the complexity offered by the Eurocode is justified.
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Halton, Maurice. "L.Gardner and Sons Limited : The History of a British Industrial Firm. A study with Special Reference to Markets, Workplace Industrial Relations, and Manufacturing Engineering Technology, 1955-1986." Thesis, University of Bolton, 2010. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.511279.
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Halton, Maurice J. "L. Gardner and Sons Limited : the history of a British industrial firm : a study with special reference to markets, workplace industrial relations, and manufacturing engineering technology, 1955-1986." Thesis, University of Bolton, 2010. http://ubir.bolton.ac.uk/263/.
Full textAbstract:
Investigating a range of commonly asserted characteristics relating to British family firms, this study concluded that, although they retained ownership and control and did not adopt mass-production, no persuasive evidence was found to suggest that the family managers of L. Gardner and Sons behaved unprofessionally or irrationally during the first eighty-seven years of the firm?s existence. Analysed from the perspective of markets and workplace industrial relations, it was found that the Gardner family managers coped reasonably well with most of the macroenvironmental shifts that occurred between 1955 and 1975. However, two serious errors were made: the first, which caused a short-term loss of revenue and a long-term loss of market leadership, was a result of negligence, the second stemmed from an outdated authoritarian approach to industrial relations that resulted in intense discord in the workplace, alleviated only after the management was replaced by a more astute and enlightened regime. A third error occurred after Gardner was sold to Hawker Siddeley, a large British industrial group, in 1977. Based on a perception that Gardner's plant was outdated, the new owners invested in expensive computer controlled manufacturing systems, and increased the volume of subcontracted components, strategies that caused disruptions to production schedules, eroded quality standards, and failed to improve output. As a result, Gardner's superlative reputation for reliability and service became tarnished and its market share plummeted. In 1986, when mounting trading losses became unacceptable, the firm was sold-on to a competitor and production effectively ceased. This thesis asserts that, as a family firm, Gardner traded profitably and provided incomes for thousands of employees for more than a century. Moreover, the sale to Hawker Siddeley conferred wealth on the family shareholders and financial security on their descendents. Gardner was not therefore, a failure either between 1898 and 1955, or before 1978.
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Rock, Amanda J. "A semi-empirical assessment of plunge pool scour| Two-dimensional application of Annandale's erodibility index method on four dams in British Columbia, Canada." Thesis, Colorado School of Mines, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1583883.
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Rock scour downstream of dam foundations and spillways has become a significant dam safety concern in recent years. As design flood estimates increase and older infrastructure is expected to pass larger amounts of water, downstream river beds and plunge pools are subjected to progressively greater stream power from rapidly flowing water. A need exists to quantify the erosive capacity of the flowing water and the erodibility of earth materials to evaluate potential scour in these susceptible areas. Annandale's Erodibility Index Method, widely considered a state of the art scour prediction method, offers an approach to quantify scour depth by comparing the erosive capacity of flowing water and the ability of rock to resist it.
This study assesses the accuracy of Annandale's Erodibility Index Method for estimating rock scour depth in plunge pools. The success by which the method may be implemented is dependent on the accuracy of methods to quantify the rate of energy dissipation of plunging jets (applied stream power) and the ability to estimate the capacity of rock to resist the power of the flowing water. The stream power of plunging jets is quantified by making use of published research, while the ability of rock to resist scour is computed using a geo-mechanical index, known as the Erodibility Index.
The Erodibility Index that was used to estimate the scour resistance of the various stratigraphic layers downstream of four BC Hydro dam spillways located in British Columbia, Canada relies on in-situ rock parameters consisting of UCS strength values, RQD values, joint spacing, aperture, alteration, roughness, and orientation. The jet stream power was calculated using continuous daily discharge records and spillway geometries at each of the dams, and published research on stream power quantification. The spillway types included one long spillway chute with a free overfall and a number of flip bucket-type energy dissipaters.
Comparison between the numerically generated scour profiles and a series of plunge pool surveys at each of the dams provided a means of determining accuracy. Scour depths and the distances between the end of the spillways and the points of maximum scour were matched. The study revealed that correlations between calculated and observed scour profiles improved with the quality of geologic information and with the certainty by which the stream power of jets and their decay could be quantified.
The geologic information at two of the dams, Revelstoke and Seven Mile Dams, was incomplete and resulted in a generalized characterization of the scour resistance of the plunge pool rock. At these dams it was not possible to spatially characterize changes in scour resistance of the rock in the plunge pool. The geologic information at Peace Canyon and W.A.C. Bennett Dams was more informative and allowed quantification of the spatial distribution of plunge pool scour resistance in each case.
The research further identified that jet theory associated with flip buckets provides good estimates of stream power and its decay, but that hydraulic theory used to quantify the energy dissipation in long spillway chutes may be incomplete at this point in time. The combined inadequacy of geologic data and the insufficiency of hydraulic theory related to long spillway chutes resulted in the comparison between surveyed and calculated scour depths at Revelstoke Dam being particularly poor. Contrasting this result, it was found that better understanding of flip bucket hydraulics and more informative geologic information resulted in very good correlations between calculated and surveyed scour profiles at Peace Canyon and W.A.C. Bennett Dams. The comparison provided more pleasing results at Seven Mile Dam than at Revelstoke Dam, in spite of the relatively poor geologic information in the plunge pool area of Seven Mile Dam. The improved correlation at Seven Mile Dam may be attributed to the fact that it has a flip bucket spillway, which resulted in better quantification of jet stream power and its decay.
In summary the analysis results indicate a strong correlation between surveyed and modeled plunge pool depth and invert location at dam sites where both the hydraulics and geology are well understood. It is concluded from this research that Annandale's Erodibility Index Method is an accurate method for estimating plunge pool depth when geologic information is available and spillway and plunge pool hydraulics are well-understood. A lack of information or understanding of the spatial distribution of materials generally results in less accurate predictions.
Although this research project was not directed towards determining the rate of scour of rock, a good correlation was found between cumulative energy (the product of stream power and duration) and scour depth. This preliminary result provides encouragement for future research into using the Erodibility Index Method to quantify the rate of scour in rock.
The analysis would benefit from more robust rock parameter datasets that would allow for the inclusion of a Monte Carlo simulation within the model. Additionally, a larger dataset of dams including those with various spillway structure types and geologic environments would be valuable moving forward.
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Dyndal, Gjert Lage. "Land based air power or aircraft carriers? : the British debate about maritime air power in the 1960s." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2009. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/1058/.
Full textAbstract:
Numerous studies, books, and articles have been written on Britains retreat from its former empire in the 1960s. Journalists wrote about it at the time, many people who were involved wrote about it in the immediate years that followed, and historians have tried to put it all together. The issues of foreign policy at the strategic level and the military operations that took place in this period have been especially well covered. However, the question of military strategic alternatives in this important era of British foreign policy has been less studied. This dissertation discusses such high-profile projects as the TSR.2 and F.111, prospective VTOL aircraft and not least the CVA-01 fleet carrier, but most of all it focuses on the issue of military strategy. The rivalry between the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force was largely about the questions of carrier aviation versus land-based air power – and which strategic option would best answer the British need to maintain influence as the garrisons were being scaled down. The Royal Navy argued for replacement fleet carriers for their mobile seaborne strategy, while the Royal Air Force argued that land-based air power would be as effective and far less costly. By using this underlying strategic debate as the framework for understanding more specific debates on aircraft, ships and weapon systems, this dissertation aims to bring new light to our understanding of the dramatic restructuring and altered priorities these two military services saw during the 1960s. The story may be divided into three broad periods: From 1960 until mid 1963, it was a conceptual debate on ‘Carrier Task Forces’ and a concrete alternative ‘Island Strategy’. This ended in July 1963 with a Cabinet decision in favour of new fleet carriers. However, the Royal Air Force and the Treasury kept fighting this decision. Their continued resistance, together with the new Labour Government with Denis Healey as Secretary of State for Defence, changed the decision of 1963. The highpoint of the debate on carrier aviation and land-based air power came during 1965-66, ending with the decision of February 1966 to cancel the CVA-01 and gradually phase out the existing carrier fleet. Denis Healey then used the arguments for land-based air power as a rationale for the decision. The dissertation rounds off with a discussion of the planned phase-out of the existing carrier fleet. However, the story saw a different end than planned, as new strategic challenges in home waters came about and the evolving VTOL Harrier aircraft and the ‘through-deck cruisers’ gave new possibilities. This is a historical study of the British debate about maritime air power and strategic alternatives in the 1960s. However, the detailed story and arguments used for and against both alternatives should clearly have relevance to any conceptual debates on carrier and land-based air power.
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Ulrici, William. "TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE : Solving the British and Swedish housing shortages with the same solutions." Thesis, KTH, Samhällsplanering och miljö, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-234916.
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When too many afford too little, one could claim that a housing market is malfunctioning. The United Kingdom and Sweden suffer from housing shortages in the major cities, creating low affordability, great strain on lower income groups and worse foundation for social sustainability. Considering matters such as different housing histories, political ideologies and policies, Sweden and the UK may seem quite unalike at first, resulting in expectations for two ‘distinct’ housing shortages. However, when a more thoroughly examination is made, it is possible the situation may appear different. Perhaps, it is even possible solving the British and Swedish housing shortages with the same solutions; two birds with one stone. The purpose with this thesis is to: analyse and compare the British and Swedish housing histories, identify challenges, present a few options to solving today’s low affordability, discuss how these shortages are solved so that affordable housing is obtained in both countries. To investigate this, the four questions: 1. Do Sweden and the UK have similar housing histories, and have they contributed to today’s shortages? 2. Are there similar housing challenges in Sweden and the UK? 3. Are there the same solutions to the housing shortages of Sweden and the UK? 4. Which are the most effective options for achieving an affordable housing future? ; were asked and tried to be answered. The intentions are that this thesis will be of use to housing debates in both countries, planners, professionals and decision makers, as well as interested and affected laymen, in search for knowledge concerning the reality they are faced with. Through examining the British and Swedish housing histories from 1946 to 2018, policies during the eras of the ‘Welfare State’, the ‘Liberal Society’ and the ‘State of Crisis’, the affordability challenges of tomorrow where formulated. To find possible options to face these challenges, five experts in the UK were interviewed, leading up to the four options concerning affordability; the market liberal: lowering construction cost and building smaller homes, and the social: local authority development / council housing and policy changes to increase social values in land. After analysing pros and cons with these options, their effect on increasing affordability and social sustainability were discussed, along with preventing further deregulation and privatisation of the housing markets as well as investing more in the countryside. The final recommendations and conclusions conclude that policies in both countries need to be changed if these housing shortages are to be truly ended and long-term sustainability on the housing markets achieved. To obtain affordability and stable housing markets, attitudes and policies throughout the societies would have to change towards viewing homes more as a human right, rather than a commodity. Another conclusion is that local authorities/councils have proven themselves to be capable developers in the past, which they can become yet again but only if the current systems change.När alltför många har råd med alltför lite, kan man hävda att en bostadsmarknad fungerar felaktigt. I Storbritannien och Sverige råder bostadsbrist i storstäderna, vilket belastar låginkomsttagare och skapar en sämre grund för social hållbarhet. Med hänsyn till ämnen så som olika förflutna, politiska ideologier och politik, kan Sverige och Storbritannien i första hand tyckas vara ganska olika, vilket resulterar i förväntningar efter två "distinkta" bostadskriser. Dock, efter en grundligare undersökning är genomförd, kanske situationen uppfattas annorlunda. Kanske är det till och med möjligt att lösa de brittiska och svenska bostadskriserna med samma lösningar, så som det heter på engelska; two birds with one stone. Syftet med denna avhandling är att: analysera och jämföra historien rörande bostadssituationen i Sverige och Storbritannien, identifiera utmaningar, presentera några alternativ för att lösa dagens kriser samt att diskutera hur dessa kriser bör lösas så att en hållbar morgondag blir uppnådd i båda länderna. För att undersöka detta, ställdes de fyra frågorna: 1. Har Storbritannien och Sverige ett liknande förflutet vad gäller bostäder och har dessa bidragit till dagens kriser? 2. Finns det liknande utmaningar berörande bostäder i Storbritannien och Sverige 3. Finns det samma lösningar på bostadskriserna i Storbritannien och Sverige? 4. Vilka är de mest effektiva alternativen för att uppnå en hållbar framtid? ; vilka försöktes besvaras. Avsikten är att denna avhandling kommer vara till nytta för bostadsdebatten i båda länderna, planerare, professionella och beslutsfattare samt intresserade och påverkade lekmän på jakt efter kunskap om den verklighet de står inför. Genom att undersöka hur den brittiska och svenska bostadssituationen tidigare sett ut, från 1946 till 2018, politiken under ”välfärdsstatens”, ”det liberala samhällets" och "staten i kris" eror, har utmaningarna för att uppnå en billigare morgondag formulerats. För att hitta möjliga alternativ för att möta dessa utmaningar, intervjuades fem experter i Storbritannien, vilket ledde fram till de fyra alternativen: de marknadsliberala; sänka byggkostnader och bygga mindre bostäder, samt de sociala; lokala myndigheters bostadsbyggande / kommunalt bostadsbyggande och politiska förändringar för att öka markers sociala värden vid utveckling. Efter att ha analyserat för- och nackdelar med dessa alternativ diskuterades deras effekt på ökad köpkraft och social hållbarhet, att förhindra ytterligare avregleringar och privatiseringar av bostadsmarknaderna samt att investera mer i landsbygden. De slutliga rekommendationerna och slutsatserna fastställer att politiken i båda länderna behöver ändras om dessa bostadskriser verkligen ska lösas och långsiktig hållbarhet på bostadsmarknaden uppnås. För att få överkomliga priser och stabila bostadsmarknader skulle attityder och politik i hela samhället behöva förändras mot att betrakta hem mer som en mänsklig rätt snarare än en vara. En annan slutsats är att lokala myndigheter / kommuner tidigare har visat sig vara kapabla bostadsutvecklare, vilket de kan bli igen men bara om de rådande systemen förändras.
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Andersson, Magnus, and Peter Eriksson. "Analysis of noise levels, audio frequency and fuel consumption with propellers of type McCauley and MT on BAe Jetstream 32." Thesis, Mälardalens högskola, Akademin för innovation, design och teknik, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-14446.
Full textAbstract:
This report describes a thesis project conducted at Direktflyg in Borlänge, in early 2012, where the aim was to analyse the difference in noise level, audio frequency and fuel consumption between propellers of the older type McCauley and the newer type MT on the aircraft type BAe Jetstream 32. To perform the analysis, the authors reviewed current procedures regarding noise certification from air safety agencies to be able to identify suitable methods for the noise level and audio frequency measurements. The results of the conducted noise level measurements show a general lower noise level throughout the cabin and a significant reduction in noise level behind row 2 when using the MT propeller compared to the McCauley type. In practice this means a lower perceived noise level for most passengers at an average passenger load factor. The frequency measurements show that the MT propeller generates audio frequencies which are perceived as lower in noise levels and are therefore more comfortable for passengers. The fuel consumption was also slightly lower when using the MT propeller compared to the McCauley type over the assigned time period and the determined limiting parameters.Denna rapport beskriver ett examensarbete som genomfördes på Direktflyg i Borlänge under början av 2012, där syftet var att analysera skillnaden i ljudnivå, ljudfrekvens och bränslekonsumtion på flygplanstypen Jetstream 32 efter genomfört byte av propellrar från typen McCauley till typen MT på en av bolagets flygplansindivider. För att genomföra analysen har författarna granskat gällande procedurer angående ljudnivåmätning från styrande luftsäkerhetsorgan för att sedan kunna fastställa passande metoder för utförandet av ljudnivå- samt ljudfrekvensmätningar. Resultaten från ljudnivåmätningarna visar på en lägre ljudnivå över hela kabinen samt betydligt lägre ljudnivå bakom rad 2 vid användning av MT-propellrar jämfört med McCauley. I praktiken innebär detta en lägre upplevd ljudnivå för de flesta passagerare vid en genomsnittlig kabinfaktor. Frekvensmätningarna visar att MT-propellern genererar ljudfrekvenser som uppfattas som lägre i ljudnivå och därav också som behagligare för passagerarna. Bränslekonsumtionen var vidare något lägre vid användande av MT-propellrar jämfört med McCauley över den tidsperiod som innefattades inom arbetet och de begränsande parametrar som fastställdes.
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"Job satisfaction of engineering graduates of Iranian universities in British Columbia." CAPELLA UNIVERSITY, 2010. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3397396.
Full text
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Cookson-Hills, Claire. "ENGINEERING THE NILE: IRRIGATION AND THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN EGYPT, 1882-1914." Thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1974/7717.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis examines technological and social mechanisms of British imperial water control as created and managed by British irrigation engineers in Egypt between 1882 and 1914. In the aftermath of the British military conquest of the Ottoman colony, irrigation engineering was lauded as a way to make Egypt prosperous and financially solvent through the growth and sale of cash-crop cotton on the global market. The irrigation engineers who transferred into Egypt in the wake of the British occupation to enact this revivification of irrigation were Indian-experienced military engineers; these Royal Engineers officers and their British superiors in Egypt and the Foreign Office enacted the principles of late nineteenth century liberal economy, including the construction of large-scale public works.
The British engineers imported their Indian experiences when they transferred to the Egyptian Irrigation Department. Their engineering epistemologies included economic frugality, an emphasis and reliance on hydraulic science, and skepticism of the viability of local irrigation practices. Permanent dams were built or reconstructed across the Nile at Cairo (Delta Barrage, 1887-1890) and at Aswan (Aswan Dam, 1898-1902). With these structures, among other major projects, the engineers created a system of water control that extended their abilities to manage the Nile and local irrigation practices. Always chaotic, contingent, and geographically and temporally specific, the engineers forced Egyptian peasants, cash crop cotton, and the Nile into the interconnected web of politics, economics, and science that was transnational British imperialism.Thesis (Ph.D, History) -- Queen's University, 2013-01-04 12:28:11.274
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Ismail, Shehab. "Engineering Metropolis: Contagion, Capital, and the Making of British Colonial Cairo, 1882-1922." Thesis, 2017. https://doi.org/10.7916/D8Z611FD.
Full textAbstract:
This dissertation traces the transition of colonial Cairo from a marginal space to the British regime to an object of colonial governance and the site of technological and social intervention. It examines what caused this transition, how it shaped the spatial and social landscape of a booming metropolis, and how these developments produced and sustained opportunities, contradictions, and spaces for contestation and opposition. This dissertation challenges the current literature on British Cairo, which treats the colonial era (1882-1922) as a homogeneous expression of the regime’s retreat and of capital-led growth, by providing an account of the regime’s program of infrastructural reorganization and schemes of public housing and town planning. Because the literature largely ignores this history, it does not detect the colonial regime’s increasing discomfort at capital-led urban development or the regime’s late attempt to refashion its relation to capital and to take charge of Cairo’s future growth.
The first part of this dissertation examines the pressures and crises that led to this transition. A protracted biological crisis that saw waves of cholera epidemics and high death rates underscored the need for constructing and improving infrastructures of sanitation and service provision. And capital’s forceful entry into the city led to a speculative property bubble, a housing crisis, and uncoordinated urban expansion, which made the disjointed framework of urban administration and the absence of regulations all the more evident. These crises made the colonial regime liable to critiques from elites, proponents, and certainly from the nascent anticolonial movement. The second part examines projects of sanitation and schemes of housing and town planning that the regime turned to since the beginning of the twentieth century and that embodied a changing approach to the city. During the latter two decades of the occupation, the colonial regime invested in upgrading Cairo’s water supply and constructing the city’s first sewage network. This dissertation traces not only how these infrastructural technologies worked but also how they became sites of contestation over power and knowledge. It examines the reception of infrastructures by urban dwellers across the social spectrum, the techno-social debates they occasioned among expert managers and designers, including above all engineers and public hygienists, and the social visions they embodied. Finally, the regime broached projects of public housing and town planning that constituted, in one sense, the culmination of a program of infrastructural reorganization, and in another, an attempt to give coherence to urban governance and assume leadership over the city’s development. By offering material improvement, these schemes were also meant to neutralize political discontent, which nonetheless erupted with the 1919 revolution.
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Keenan, Kathleen Marie. "Establishing a seismic retrofit policy : Implications for buildings with historical significance in the lower mainland of British Columbia." Thesis, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/3479.
Full textAbstract:
Earthquakes, such as the ones capable of affecting the Lower Mainland of British
Columbia, can have a devastating effect on the environment that people live and work
in. The purpose of this thesis is to examine methods of dealing with the hazards and
problems created by existing, often historically significant, unreinforced buildings in
earthquake-prone areas. Gaining an understanding of the complexity of this problem
and the issues involved in establishing hazard mitigation policies gives insight into the
policy-making process. The research indicates that a number of internal and external
factors affect the formulation, adoption, and implementation of hazard mitigation
policies. Despite limited awareness of the problem, low political salience of the issue,
and limited resources in most communities, there are many steps that can be taken that
will reduce the public's exposure to the risks created by unreinforced buildings and
strengthen historically significant buildings that hold value, socially, economically, and
culturally. Establishing more extensive mitigative measures, such as implementing a
seismic retrofit policy, requires a decision-making process that must involve the people
who live and work within that community. Each community, through a process of
consultation with the stakeholders, needs to decide if it is in their interest to pursue
hazard mitigation strategies to reduce the seismic risk. There is a need to integrate
hazard mitigation strategies into the daily decision-making process of politicians and
planners. The thesis concludes with some points for stakeholders to consider in
designing policy to reduce the earthquake hazard that all the communities in the Lower
Mainland of British Columbia face.
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Finch, Graham. "The Performance of Rainscreen Walls in Coastal British Columbia." Thesis, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10012/3223.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis examines the widespread moisture problems which emerged over the past twenty years in buildings throughout coastal British Columbia, commonly known as ‘leaky condos’. A literature review of building physics and a historical review of wood-frame construction in North America provide background for this review.
The purpose of this work is to report and interpret the performance of rainscreen walls in the coastal climate of Vancouver BC, based on extensive field data from five local buildings constructed or rehabilitated with rainscreen wall assemblies. Hygrothermal data was collected within exterior walls, and corresponding environmental data was recorded for each building. Driving rain loads at the five buildings across the city are calculated and compared to Vancouver airport data. Site factors are shown to have a significant impact on driving rain load, wind speed and direction.
The WUFI 4.1 hygrothermal model was compared with the field data collected and found to be accurate at predicting past performance. Applying this validated model to each wall assembly, further simulations were performed to determine the impact of boundary conditions and assembly details on wall performance.
Field measurements and modeling show that ventilated and drained claddings (i.e. rainscreen) reduce the sensitivity of wood frame buildings to moisture damage. Ventilation of the cladding is shown to be particularly important and natural buoyancy forces (from temperature and humidity differences between cavity and exterior) are usually sufficient to provide good drying. Exterior insulation is shown to further improve rainscreen wall performance by increasing the drying potential of the sheathing to both the exterior and interior.
Additional work performed included material testing of fiberglass-faced gypsum sheathing and air-leakage testing of individual suites in the monitored buildings. Elevated interior humidity, resulting from inadequate ventilation, is shown to be exacerbated by inter-zonal air-flow in multi-unit residential buildings.
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Kelly, Liam. "Probabilistic modelling of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle impacts on distribution networks in British Columbia." Thesis, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/1702.
Full textAbstract:
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) represent a promising future direction for the personal transportation sector in terms of decreasing the reliance on fossil fuels while simultaneously decreasing emissions. Energy used for driving is fully or partially shifted to electricity leading to lower emission rates, especially in a low carbon intensive generation mixture such as that of British Columbia’s. Despite the benefits of PHEVs for vehicle owners, care will need to be taken when integrating PHEVs into existing electrical grids. For example, there is a natural coincidence between peak electricity demand and the hours during which the majority of vehicles are parked at a residence after a daily commute. This research aims to investigate the incremental impacts to distribution networks in British Columbia imposed by the charging of PHEVs.
A probabilistic model based on Monte Carlo Simulations is used to investigate the impacts of uncontrolled PHEV charging on three phase networks in the BC electricity system. A model simulating daily electricity demand is used to estimate the residential and commercial demand on a network. A PHEV operator model simulates the actions of drivers throughout a typical day in order to estimate the demand for vehicle charging imposed on networks. A load flow algorithm is used to solve three phase networks for voltage, current and line losses. Representative three phase networks are investigated typical of suburban, urban and rural networks. Scenarios of increasing PHEV penetration on the network and technological advancement are considered in the absence of vehicle charging control.
The results are analyzed in terms of three main categories of impacts: network demands, network voltage levels and secondary transformer overloading. In all of the networks, the PHEV charging adds a large amount of demand to the daily peak period. The increase in peak demand due to PHEV charging increases at a higher rate than the increase in energy supplied to the network as a result of vehicles charging at 240V outlets. No significant voltage drop or voltage unbalance problems occur on any of the networks investigated. Secondary transformer overloading rates are highest on the suburban network. PHEVs can also contribute to loss of transformer life specifically for transformers that are overloaded in the absence of PHEV charging. For the majority of feeders, uncontrolled PHEV charging should not pose significant problems in the near term. Recommendations are made for future studies and possible methods for mitigating the impacts.
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Mazzucchi, David. "Postglacial vegetation history of mountainous landscapes on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada." Thesis, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/2695.
Full textAbstract:
Five lake and one soil sediment record from six mountainous sites on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, were examined for changes in pollen, macrofossils, charcoal, and mineral clasts to reconstruct late Quaternary history of vegetation, fire and climate. The results provide insights into the history and dynamics of the Mountain Hemlock biogeoclimatic zone and highlight the role of several species and species groups not previously recognized. During the early Holocene, Alnus crispa expanded throughout the region following deglaciation, playing a more important role in these ecosystems than today. Abies lasiocarpa was the dominant Abies species at these sites during the late glacial and early Holocene until it was replaced by A. amabilis between about 10,500 and 7300 calBP, perhaps due to changes in regional atmospheric circulation and greater seasonal variability in insolation than we experience today. A. amabilis increased during the mid Holocene and was later replaced at the sites by increased abundance of T. mertensiana while T. heterophylla became much more abundant at nearby low elevations. Ericaceous-heath communities were established soon after deglaciation at the moister sites but not until about 7000 calBP at drier sites. These drier sites show more variation in vegetation throughout their records than the wetter sites. High charcoal and clast concentrations coincident with rapid vegetation shifts during the early Holocene suggest that these changes were probably the result of large stand-clearing fires that exposed mineral soils. A peak in charcoal at several of the sites occurs at ca. 4000 calBP suggesting more frequent fire at that time. During the late glacial and very early Holocene, P. contorta was an important seral species until A. crispa became well established. In the mid to late Holocene when Ericaceous-heath became established, A. crispa was unable to predominate, possibly because of reduced fire activity or because the heath communities hindered the exposure of fresh mineral soil surfaces. As a consequence, conifer-dominated stands were favoured. Basal sediments from these sites are not as old as they are at lower elevations, suggesting that deglaciation may have happened later at higher elevations.
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McClenagan, Jerry Donald. "Occurrence and origins of streamlined forms in central British Columbia." Thesis, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/2691.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of this research is to gain understanding of the occurrence and origin of streamlined forms in central British Columbia. More than 50,000 landforms, primarily drumlins and crag-and-tail ridges, were digitally mapped over an area covering five 1:250,000 NTS map sheets. Visual Basic programs were written to statistically analyze the streamlined forms database and to simulate site-scale, two-dimensional glacial erosion. Results show three principal ice and/or meltwater flow directions: southeast flows probably originating in the Skeena Mountains, northeast flows from the Coast Mountains and Quanchas Range, and west flows originating east of the Babine and Telkwa Ranges. Rat-tails and striae occur up to 1680 m elevation and record uphill flow to the west in these ranges.
Streamlined forms were investigated at outcrop scale (e.g. rat-tails), landform scale (e.g. drumlins) and landscape scale (as defined by closed contours). On bedrock outcrops, cross-cutting striae are common and they both parallel and cross-cut rat-tails. Small rat-tails occur on, and parallel to, larger rat-tails but they do not cross-cut, suggesting a different origin than striae. Rat-tails are interpreted as being formed by subglacial meltwater flows, an interpretation supported by the glacial erosion model. Lowland streamlined forms (e.g. drumlins and crag-and-tails) are interpreted as either glacially-formed ridges subsequently shaped by meltwater floods or as being formed entirely by meltwater floods. This interpretation is largely based on the common occurrence of interconnecting hairpin furrows around these streamlined forms and on the demonstrated association of hairpin furrows with fluvial erosion.
The results of topographic analysis indicate that an interconnecting system of valleys separates uplands that can be objectively defined by single (closed) contours. The aspect ratios of the uplands are highly correlated (L/W = 2.38, R2 = 0.89) with values that are similar to those reported for braid bars and erosional residuals thought to have been formed by glacial outburst floods. This upland/lowland landform assemblage may, in places, represent streamlined erosional residuals within braided channel networks formed, at least in part, by subglacial or glacial outburst floods.
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Flower, Aquila. "A dendroclimatic investigation in the northern Canadian Rocky Mountains, British Columbia." Thesis, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/1398.
Full textAbstract:
Subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa [Hooker] Nuttall) and white spruce (Picea glauca [Moench] Voss) trees were sampled in an old growth forest in the northern Canadian Rocky Mountains. Dendroclimatological methods were used to analyse the relationship between annual radial-growth and climatic variability. The white spruce ring-width chronology showed stronger sensitivity to climatic variability than the subalpine fir chronology. Both chronologies were positively correlated with growing season mean and minimum temperature. Additionally, the white spruce chronology was correlated with summer maximum temperature, late spring minimum temperature, and diurnal temperature range during the growing season. The subalpine fir ring-width chronology was also correlated with maximum and minimum temperature and diurnal temperature range during the during the previous winter and with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation during each month from December to June. Analysis of the climate-growth responses of individual trees revealed a higher level of intraspecies variability in subalpine fir than in white spruce.
The white spruce chronology was selected for use in creating a proxy climate record based on its greater length and stronger sensitivity to climatic variability. Dendroclimatological methods were used to create a regional proxy record of June-July mean temperature extending back to 1772. This reconstruction exhibits a shared pattern of low-frequency variability with other dendroclimatic reconstructions from western Canada and shows no evidence of the recent reduction in sensitivity to climatic variability that is apparent in many other northern spruce chronologies.
This study represents the first detailed dendroclimatic analysis undertaken in northern interior British Columbia. This work has elucidated the complex interactions between climate and the radial growth of alpine conifers in the northern Canadian Rocky Mountains. The climate reconstruction presented here fills in one of the remaining spatial gaps in the coverage of annually resolved climate reconstructions in western North America.
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Allen, Sandra Michele. "Late Holocene glacial activity of Bridge Glacier, British Columbia coast mountains." Thesis, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/2259.
Full textAbstract:
Bridge Glacier is a prominent eastward-flowing valley glacier located on the east side of the Pacific Ranges within the southern British Columbia Coast Mountains. The terminus of Bridge Glacier has retreated at rates ranging from 0 to 125 m/year over the last 50 years and currently calves into proglacial Bridge Lake. Field investigations of the recently deglaciated terrain at Bridge Glacier in 2002 and 2003 led to the discovery of detrital boles and glacially-sheared stumps. Dendroglaciological analyses of this subfossil wood allowed for the construction of five radiocarbon-controlled floating tree-ring chronologies. The relative age and stratigraphic location of these samples revealed that Bridge Glacier experienced at least four periods of significant advance during the late Holocene: a Tiedemann-aged advance at ca. 3000'4C years BP. an unattributed advance at ca. 1900 '4C years BP. a First Millennial Advance at ca. 1500 '4C years BP. and an early Little Ice Age advance at ca. 700 '4C years BP. Lichenometric investigations at eight terminal and lateral moraine complexes led to the recognition of early Little Ice Age moraine-building events during the late 13th to early 14th centuries. with subsequent Little Ice Age episodes in the mid 15th. early 16th. mid-late 17th, early 18th, mid-late 19th, and early 20th centuries. These interpretations provide an exceptional long-term perspective on the extent and character of a glacier within this region during the late Holocene.
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Harrower, William Laughton. "Nesting requirements of the northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis atricapillus) in southeastern British Columbia." Thesis, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/2513.
Full textAbstract:
The identification of resources animals select provides valuable insight into the factors that limit populations and control distributions. My objective in this thesis was to examine how the northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis atricapillus) selects resources during the nesting and fledging life-history stages. This work was conducted in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, from 1998 to 2006. Using Information-Theoretic techniques, I described the forest characteristics selected by goshawks when locating their nest sites within their breeding territories, and the forest characteristics selected by fledgling goshawks around the nest while they are still dependent on their parents for food. I found that goshawks select nesting sites with a relatively large amount of high canopy cover (>40%) forest within 200 m of the nest. The amount of high canopy cover forest remained higher than comparison points up to 1100 m from the nest, but goshawks also will select for forest openings relatively close to the nest
(- 174 m). Fledgling goshawks selected for continuous areas of forest cover, particularly areas with higher amounts of forest between 40-80 years old within 525 m distance from the nest. Presumably, goshawks selected these younger stands in order to avoid predation. Fledglings also selected areas with more high canopy cover forest and areas without large amounts of recently-harvested forest (<10 years of age) stands within 525 m of the nest. Thus, the structural characteristics of forests required by goshawks for nesting are complex, and different competing characteristics are selected at different distances from the nest. Although goshawks do require mature forest stands with high canopy cover close to the nest, a greater diversity of forest types appears to be either tolerated or required as the distance from the nest increases. Additionally, limited evidence suggests that the movements of fledgling goshawks may be governed by a combination of forest structure and inter-familiar interactions.
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Dove, Stephen. "The reconstruction of pharmacist authority in British Columbia, 1965-1968." Thesis, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/2954.
Full textAbstract:
Despite extensive research on the history of medicine, little has been written on the role played by pharmacists. The diminished demand for compounding services that accompanied the explosion of manufactured pharmaceuticals after World War II left pharmacists over educated and underutilized. This study demonstrates how British Columbia pharmacists reconstructed their professional authority in the 1960s through the formation of a Pharmacy Planning Commission, a process that pre-dated and influenced other jurisdictions. Examination of the archives of the College of Pharmacists of British Columbia reveals that pharmacists overcame ethical restrictions, adopted clinically focussed education and increased accessibility to facilitate a role as consultant to the public on non-prescription medications. The addition of prescription drug counselling and an increased role as drug consultants to physicians allowed British Columbia pharmacists the authority to claim a core competency as drug information experts.
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Zantvoort, Willem Gerald. "Beach profile morphological changes: northeast Graham Island, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada." Thesis, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/1822.
Full textAbstract:
The northeast coast of Graham Island is macrotidal, composed of unconsolidated
sediments, and subject to extreme wind and wave conditions. Cape Fife coast is erosive,
composed of sand to gravel, and is medium to low sloped with intertidal to subtidal bars.
The north coast is mainly depositional, very low to steeply sloped, and composed of fine
aeolian sands and cobbles. Rose Spit, trending north-northeast separates the two beaches.
Cross-shore profiles documented seasonal morphologies, where active summer swash bar
development is preceded by concave profile. This study identified that bars on the east
coast are linked to erosive hotspots. There was a relationship between wavelength and
amplitude of the bar and the erosive nature of the foreshore. It is proposed that bars
protect against incident waves. Decadal and seasonal evolution of a portion of the
northeast coast was compiled with the combination of aerial photography, bathymetric
data and geomorphological mapping.
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Christensen, Jennie R. "Factors affecting persistent organic pollutant (POP) accumulation in British Columbia grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis)." Thesis, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/890.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis characterizes major factors influencing the accumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine (OC) pesticides, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), in grizzly bears.
Dietary differences among grizzly bears have significant implications for contaminant concentrations and patterns. While salmon-eating bears were dominated by lipophilic PCBs, OC pesticides, and lower-brominated PBDEs, non-salmon-eating bears were dominated by the more volatile PCBs and OC pesticides and higher-brominated PBDEs (e.g. BDE-209). Overall, the ocean-salmon-bear pathway appeared to preferentially select for those contaminants with an intermediate log Kow ~6.5, with salmon delivering up to 70% of OC pesticides, 85% of PBDEs and 90% of PCBs to grizzly bears.
Fat utilization by grizzly bears during hibernation results in significant contaminant concentration increases in residual fat (“concentration effect”). Overall, total PCBs increased by 2.21 times from pre- to post-hibernation, and total PBDEs by 1.58 times. Interestingly, the patterns of the two distinct pre-hibernation grizzly bear feeding ecologies (salmon- and non-salmon-eating) converged during hibernation, suggesting that shared metabolic capacities drive POP patterns during hibernation.
Relative to salmon, grizzly bears have extremely low biomagnification factors (BMFs) for PCBs (0.147), compared to other marine mammals. Low BMF values were a result of >90% depuration (loss) of PCBs through contaminant metabolism and excretion. The results suggest that grizzly bears only metabolize PCB congeners with meta- and para- vicinal hydrogen (H) atoms, suggesting that they have active cytochrome (CYP) P450 2B/3A-like metabolic enzymes. However, congeners structurally resistant to metabolic biotransformation, and those with ortho- and meta- vicinal H atoms, were not readily metabolized, but rather were lost through excretion. This was evidenced by a significant relationship between total retention (Rtotal) of those congeners and log Kow, as well as a lack of change in that relationship during hibernation.
Vegetation and the terrestrial food web were dominated by PBDEs and volatile OC pesticides and PCBs, while salmon and the marine food web were dominated by lipophilic PCBs and OC pesticides, mirroring patterns in grizzly bears within their respective food web. Following consumption of these various foods by the grizzly bears, fecal material closely resembled food in contaminant pattern, suggesting that many of the contaminants may go unabsorbed.
While previous work identified major factors (e.g. age, sex, diet) influencing POP behaviour in wildlife and food webs, this research highlights the need to refine our ideas about those factors in order to better assess chemical health risk in wildlife by considering: 1) individual differences in feeding behaviour; 2) integrated dietary histories (temporal changes); 3) unique biological traits affecting POP fate; 4) modes of POP loss other than metabolism; 5) selection of the most recalcitrant congener for more robust analysis of POP behaviour; 6) use of non-invasive techniques to study diet and POP exposure; and, 7) tissue residue guidelines underestimate health risks. Our results also suggest that PBDEs show POP-type characteristics as defined under the Stockholm Convention, and thus should be regulated.
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Johnson, Melissa Christine. "Voices in favour : a study of support for a third crossing of Burrard Inlet." Thesis, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/16592.
Full textAbstract:
Planning theorists often espouse the value of citizen participation and the sharing of
ideas and opinions in planning processes, and encourage collaborative discussions
between professionals and the public. On the issue of sustainability planning, there can
be many differing beliefs and opinions within society. In order to construct meaningful
dialogue around sustainability goals, it is important for planners to understand the
diverse opinions of the public.
This thesis examines the belief systems of people who support the idea of building a
"third crossing" of Vancouver's Burrard Inlet, looking to draw conclusions that could be
useful in planning for similar transportation infrastructure projects. I interviewed nine
third crossing supporters using two theories from psychology and social psychology,
Leon Festinger's notion of cognitive dissonance and Daniel Yankelovich's definitions of
mass opinion and public judgment, to identify conflict within beliefs and evaluate the
quality of opinion.
I discovered that cognitive dissonance, or conflict between an individual's beliefs, was
not reflected significantly in the views of crossing supporters. They also exhibited high
quality opinion, as defined by Yankelovich using his criteria of responsibility, stability and
consistency. Further, in comparing the interview responses to transportation policies
contained in the Greater Vancouver Regional District's Livable Region Strategic Plan, I
determined that two conflicting visions, which I refer to as the mobility vision and the
sustainability/livability vision, lie at the heart of this transportation debate and likely
others with similar foundations. With the knowledge that crossing advocates have a
well-developed and logically constructed vision, planners must think about ways to
establish constructive dialogue and address the fundamental values and assumptions
upon which the two visions are based in order to foster social learning on the issue of
sustainability-oriented transportation.Applied Science, Faculty of
Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of
Graduate