to measure soil water content (or soil matric suction) in thin layers of about 30mm, conventional gypsum blocks are not suitable. to carry out the task, mini-gypsum blocks were constructed using plaster of paris in an innovative fashion. a power relationship was found between the soil water content and the mini-gypsum blocks’ readings in kω. the calibration results showed that readings of m...

a pressure-based coupled heat and mass transfer model was used to simulate temperature and soil suction in a drying process within a clay soil column. closed form functions were used for all parameters needed in the governing equations. model predictions were compared with experimental data using the mean relative percentage deviation method. thermocouples and mini-gypsum blocks were used t...

10 11 ABSTRACT 12 13 The aim of this research was to exploit natural products chemistry to control the incidence and extent 14 of mould growth in housing hence improving the sustainability of building products. 15 16 In this study, 7 extracts of the essential oils were screened in a nutrient medium for their antimould 17 activity against 3 common moulds, viz C. herbarum, Penicillium sp. and Alt...

Time-resolved energy dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDXRD) data have been measured in situ from cast blocks of gypsum, CaSO(4) x 2 H(2)O, in the presence of reactive phosphate solutions under hydrothermal conditions (100 < or = T < or = 180 degrees C) in order to understand the formation of hydroxyapatite monoliths, for applications such as in artificial bone or dental materials. Measurement of ...

Gypsum karst problems in the Permian and Triassic sequences of England have caused difficult conditions for bridge and road construction. In Northern England, the Ripon Bypass crosses Permian strata affected by active gypsum karst and severe subsidence problems. Here, the initial borehole site investigation for the road was supplemented by resistivity tomography studies. The roadway was reinfor...

The two principal methods for studying fungal biodegradation of lignocellulosic plant tissues were developed for wood preservative testing (soil-block; agar-block). It is well-accepted that soil-block microcosms yield higher decay rates, fewer moisture issues, lower variability among studies, and higher thresholds of preservative toxicity. Soil-block testing is thus the more utilized technique ...

With the rapid development of economic, gypsum is widely used in casting and other industry areas. In this paper, the result is obtained that the performance of plaster mold is better when gypsum-water ratio is 0.5. If the composition of gypsum slurry mixture ( -hemihydrate, mullite powder, zirconium powder, reinforcing fibers) is mullite powder: zircon flour: enhancing fiber = 1:0.25:0.2:0.02-...

Gypsum soils are among the most restrictive and widespread substrates for plant life. Plants living on gypsum are classified as gypsophiles (exclusive to gypsum) and gypsovags (non-exclusive to gypsum). The former have been separated into wide and narrow gypsophiles, each with a putative different ecological strategy. Mechanisms displayed by gypsum plants to compete and survive on gypsum are st...