Geotechnical Engineering Commons^™

Thermal Numerical Analysis Of Vertical Heat Extraction Systems In Landfills, Michael Thomas Onnen

Master's Theses and Project Reports

An investigation was conducted to determine the response of landfills to the operation of a vertical ground source heat pump (i.e., heat extraction system, HES). Elevated landfill temperatures, reported various researchers, impact the engineering performance of landfill systems. A numerical model was developed to analyze the influence of vertical HES operation on landfills as a function of climate and operational conditions.

A 1-D model of the vertical profile of a landfill was developed to approximate fluid temperatures in the HES. A 2-D model was then analyzed over a 40 year time period using the approximate fluid temperatures to determine ...

Geotechnical Report For Appalachian Community Health And Disaster Readiness: Interprofessional Practice, Ali Leib

University of Tennessee Honors Thesis Projects

No abstract provided.

Design And Economic Analysis Of A Geothermal Vertical Coupled Heat Pump System For The University Of Tennessee, Knoxville Campus, Joseph W. Birchfield Iv, Will Kester, Jason Cho

University of Tennessee Honors Thesis Projects

No abstract provided.

Finite Difference Modeling Of Surface-~Wave Scattering For Shallow Cavity Detection, Heston Travis Norcott

UNLV Theses/Dissertations/Professional Papers/Capstones

Data collection and analysis of scattering of Rayleigh-type surface waves are investigated for locating shallowly buried cavities. Surface-based seismic experiments conducted by others at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Engineering Geophysics Test Site (EGTS) demonstrate scattering of Rayleigh waves caused by buried empty barrels (essentially air-filled cavities). The interpretation of the data is complicated by factors such as the presence of a high-velocity geologic layer just below the cavity.

This research uses a finite-difference seismic wave propagation code to compute time histories for a model that represents the Engineering Geophysics Test Site. By adding cavities to a background ...

Characterization Of Inherent And Induced Anisotropy In Granular Materials, Marjan Oboudi

Open Access Dissertations and Theses

The main aim of this PhD dissertation is to investigate the inherent and induced anisotropy in granular materials. The study includes both the experimental and theoretical aspects and provides a methodology for characterizing the mechanical response of granular materials that display anisotropy.

The content of this thesis is divided into two main parts. The first part is focused on investigating the mechanical properties of materials with inherent anisotropy. In particular, an experimental program designed to investigate the mechanical properties of Ottawa standard sand (C109), with inherent anisotropy that is generated by the initial densification process, is described. The program involves ...

Drilled Shaft Design & Construction-Integrity Testing Issues, Mir A. Zaheer, David Latka

Purdue Road School

This presentation will provide an overview of the design and construction of drilled shafts in Indiana, including construction monitoring issue, discussion of CSL, PIT and TIP testing, and comparisons with cores taken.

Static And Seismic Performance Of Geosynthetics-Strengthened Pile Foundations, Ahmed M. Taha

University of Western Ontario - Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Geosynthetic reinforcement in earth structures has been used extensively over the last two decades. Extensive research has been carried out to investigate solutions to enhance the lateral stability of pile foundations. This research is motivated by the need to install piles in sites characterized by soft subsurface soil conditions, and often times, in seismic active areas. This research work explores an innovative use of geosynthetics to enhance the lateral performance of pile foundations. The static and seismic soil-structure-interaction behaviors of geosynthetics-reinforced pile foundation systems were evaluated using a series of reduced scale physical model tests performed on a shaking table ...

Quantifiying The Effectiveness Of A Grout Curtain Using A Laboratory-Scale Physical Model, Elliot N. Magoto

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

In the past decade, the grouting industry has made significant technological advancements in real-time monitoring of flow rate and pressure of pumped grout, stable grout mix design, and with grout curtain concepts dealing with placement and orientation. While these practices have resulted in improved construction practices in the grouting industry, current design guidelines for grout curtains are still predominately based on qualitative measures such as engineering judgment and experience or are based on proprietary methods. This research focused on the development of quantitative guidelines to evaluate the effectiveness of a grout curtain in porous media using piezometric and hydraulic flow ...

Managing Geotechnical Risk On Us Design-Build Transport Projects, Kevin Mclain, Douglas D. Gransberg, Michael Loulakis

Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering Publications and Papers

Awarding design-build (DB) contracts before a complete subsurface investigation is completed, makes mitigating the risk of differing site conditions difficult, if not impossible. The purpose of the study was to identify effective practices for managing geotechnical risk in DB projects, and it reports the results of a survey that included responses from 42 of 50 US state departments of transportation and a content analysis of DB requests for proposals from 26 states to gauge the client’s perspective, as well as 11 structured interviews with DB contractors to obtain the perspective from the other side of the DB contract. A ...

Analiza Rozwoju Fragmentu Zabudowy Miasta Torunia Na Podstawie Zdjęć Z Landsat7 Z Wykorzystaniem Map Granulometrycznych., Andrzej Szeszko

Andrzej Szeszko

Głównym celem niniejszej pracy było określenie rozwoju części zabudowy miasta Torunia

w latach 1999-2005, oraz sprawdzenie, jakie wyniki w takim zadaniu można uzyskać stosując mapy

granulometryczne wygenerowane ze zdjęć panchromatycznych o rozdzielczości przestrzennej rzędu

kilkunastu metrów. Analizę przeprowadzono na podstawie fragmentów scen satelitarnych Landsat7

zarejestrowanych przez skaner ETM+ w kilku zakresach spektralnych.

Analiza składała się z trzech następujących etapów:

· wyodrębnienia zabudowy w latach 1999 i 2005

· określenie zmian w zabudowie na podstawie zasięgu zabudowy w latach 1999 i 2005

· określenie dokładności wyznaczenia zabudowy i zmian w zabudowie

Do wyodrębnienia zabudowy posłużono się klasyfikacją map granulometrycznych. Wybór map granulometrycznych

najwierniej oddającej ...

Simulation Of Bedrock Motion To Obtain Pga Values, Shyanaka Dananjaya, Ranjith Dissanayake, Nimal Senevirathne, Kushan K. Wijesundara

International Institute for Infrastructure Resilience and Reconstruction (I3R2) Conference

This study is focused on producing the Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) values for important cities in Sri Lanka, which would provide the base to develop the national annex to the Euro Code, the current guideline in designing structures. In order to find out the magnitude and the epicenter distance of a 475-year return period earthquake, an earthquake catalog was developed. To simulate the bedrock motion FLAC Software, which uses the Finite Difference approach, was used. Five 2-D FLAC models representing five cross sections of Sri Lanka were developed. Due to the lack of local data records, a dataset of seven ...

Calibration Of Non-Nuclear Devices For Construction Quality Control Of Compacted Soils, Joshua E. R. Wells

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Inadequate compaction of a soil subgrade can lead to detrimental outcomes that are not only costly but dangerous to the general public. To avoid this, quality control (QC) devices such as the nuclear density gauge (NDG) are currently being used to monitor the compaction and moisture content of soil subgrades. However, regulatory concerns associated with the NDG have encouraged federal and state agencies, as well as the heavy civil construction industry to consider non-nuclear devices for QC testing of compacted soils. One such non-nuclear device is the Soil Density Gauge (SDG), which utilizes electromagnetic wave propagation to obtain soil properties ...

Mitigation Of Sand Liquefaction Using In Situ Production Of Biogas With Biosealing, Yishan Li

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sand liquefaction refers to a phenomenon whereby sand loses its strength and stiffness. It is responsible for many of the damages associated with earthquake. Partial desaturation of soil using bacterial production of biogas is a new method for mitigation of sand liquefaction. However, there is a concern that whether biogas in sand can be stable over a long duration when there is groundwater flow. In this study, a new method that combines biogas generation in situ with biosealing of the biogas bubbles in sand using a small quantity of biocement was developed. Biogas bubbles were produced in the form of ...

Pile-Soil Interaction In Unsaturated Soil Conditions, Megan Hamilton

Honors Theses

The degree of saturation has been proven to significantly affect geotechnical engineering designs for foundations. The changes in water content will influence the way the soil behaves, including its strength and stiffness parameters. These characteristics were analyzed for a uniform silty sand by developing P-Y curves, which relate lateral loading to lateral deformations. These P-Y curves were input into FB-Multipier, a software developed by the Bridge Software Institute. The software is capable of generating deformations as a result of user-defined loading cases. The results indicated that the middle range of degrees of saturation produced the least amount of deformation. This ...

Investigation Of Hollow Bar Micropiles In Cohesive Soil, Osama F. El Hadi Drbe

University of Western Ontario - Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Micropiles are used in various applications, including low capacity micropile networks, underpinning and seismic retrofitting of existing foundations and high capacity foundations for new structures. They facilitate fast installation with a high degree of ground improvement. The current Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) design guidelines designate hollow bar micropiles as Type B micropiles, even though their construction technique is different than typical Type B, which results in overly conservative design. In addition, the current practice for construction of hollow bar micropiles is limited to drilling bit/hollow bar diameter ratio of 2.5 or less. In this thesis, full-scale load tests ...

Cyclic And Post-Cyclic Response Of Silt And Sandy Silt Soils, Ali El Takch

University of Western Ontario - Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A series of cyclic and monotonic constant-volume ring shear tests were carried out to determine the cyclic and post-cyclic response of silts and sandy silts with 25% and 50% sand. The elastic soil behavior at very small shear strain (γ < 10^-4%) was investigated through shear wave velocity (Vs) measurements using bender elements at vertical stresses ranging from 50 to 300 kPa, while strain-controlled constant volume cyclic ring shear tests were conducted to establish shear modulus (G) and damping ratio (D) at larger shear strain amplitudes (γ > 0.01%). Liquefaction and strain-softening occurred at excess pore water pressure ratios (r_{u ...}

Investigation Of Asphalt Pavement Mixture Blending Utilizing Analytical Chemistry Techniques, Benjamin Frank Bowers

Doctoral Dissertations

The use of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) in new pavement mixtures is a topic of interest throughout the transportation industry and academia due its economic and environmental implications. There is concern however about how well the binder from the RAP blends with new, virgin binder when the mixture is created. Insufficient blending of the aged and unaged binders may compromise the long-term pavement performance. In this study, an enhanced staged extraction method is coupled with two chemical testing techniques to develop a novel approach for evaluating blending efficiency from a qualitative and quantitative perspective: Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC) and Fourier ...

Investigation Of Parameters Influencing Reverse Fault Rupture Propagation To The Ground Surface, Kevin V. Stanton

Master's Theses and Project Reports

Surface fault rupture poses a serious threat to infrastructure in many seismically active regions, but knowledge about the factors which control the likelihood of surface displacement is limited. Current probabilistic frameworks rely only on fault mechanism and moment magnitude to predict the probability of rupture to the ground surface. However, recent work has shown that there may be other parameters which also deserve consideration. For example, statistical analyses have demonstrated that variation in near surface material stiffness may significantly affect the probability of surface rupture over reverse faults. In addition, numerical investigations indicate that the rupture history of native soil ...

Effects Of Waste Placement Practices On The Engineering Response Of Municipal Solid Waste, Jason Taylor Cox

Master's Theses and Project Reports

An extensive laboratory and field investigation was conducted at Santa Maria Regional Landfill (SMRL) in Santa Maria, CA to determine the effects of waste placement practices on the engineering response of municipal solid waste (MSW). Laboratory and field testing was used to determine the engineering properties and monitor field response of MSW.

The specific gravity (G_s) of manufactured MSW (MMSW), fresh MSW (FMSW), and old MSW (OMSW) was determined experimentally using a modified version of standard soil testing procedures. Effects of particle size, compactive effort, and degradation on the specific gravity of waste were evaluated. Specific gravity of manufactured ...

Scale Model Shake Table Testing Of Seismic Earth Pressures In Soft Clay, Ron Edward Noche

Master's Theses and Project Reports

This research consists of scale model shake table tests to investigate the development of seismic earth pressures in soft clay. The soft clay was modeled after prototype San Francisco Bay Mud consisting of a mixture of kaolinite, bentonite, class C fly ash and water. A flexible walled testing container founded on a 1g shake table was used to house the model soil and mimic 1D site response. An array of accelerometers embedded in the model soil measure during an input earthquake motion.

A scale model wall is equipped with pressure sensors to measure the seismic earth pressures over the duration ...