Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Combined Behavioral And Engineering Approach To Preventing Highway Fatalities, Benjamin Blandford, Reginald Souleyrette, Caitlin N. Pope, Tony Fields, Erin Lammers-Staats

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Traditional, single-discipline highway safety approaches can be augmented through multidisciplinary approaches that consider both engineering and behavioral interventions (e.g., education, enforcement, public outreach campaigns). Leveraging a systems-based conceptual framework of roadway safety, multiple forms of statistical and geospatial analysis, and SPF modeling and network screening, this report proposes and demonstrates methods for unpacking the influence of behavioral-related factors on crash occurrences and outcomes. The primary focus is on behaviors targeted in the Strategic Highway Safety Plan — aggressive driving, distracted driving, impaired driving, and driving without proper restraint (i.e., seatbelts). Based on application of these methods, the report highlights areas …

Prediction Of Compressive Strength And Evaluation Of Different Theoretical Standards And Proposed Models Of Brick Columns Confined With Frp, Frcm, Or Srg System, Zuhair Al-Jaberi, John J. Myers

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Strength Capacity of Confined Masonry Column is One of the Topics that Need to Be Studied. in This Study, the Efficiency of using Different Types of Advanced Composite (Non-Corrosive Materials) Such as Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP), Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Matrix (FRCM), or Steel Reinforced Grout (SRG) in Confining Masonry Columns is Investigated. a Wide Range of Experimental Database of Masonry Column Specimens Has Been Collected from the Results that Available in Scientific Literatures. Different Theoretical Standards and Proposed Models that Used to Predict the Capacity of Masonry Columns Confined with FRP and FRCM Are Evaluated based on Collected Experimental …

A Case Study Of The Comparison Between Rubberized And Polymer Modified Asphalt On Heavy Traffic Pavement In Wet And Freeze Environment, Dongzhao Jin, Kwadwo Ampadu Boateng, Dongdong Ge, Tiankai Che, Lei Yin, Wayne Harrall, Zhanping You

Michigan Tech Publications

Ground tire rubber (GTR) usage in asphalt pavement with the dry process has gained more prominence in recent times. The objective of this work is to investigate the pavement performance of GTR-modified asphalt pavement and polymer-modified asphalt pavement on heavy volume of traffic conditions in Michigan's wet and freeze environment. A suite of laboratory tests was done to evaluate the pavement performance of GTR-modified and polymer-modified asphalt mixtures. To reveal the strain and stress relationship under different frequencies and temperatures, the dynamic modulus test was applied. The Hamburg wheel tracking device (HWTD) was used to assess the high-temperature deformation resistance. …

Automated Detection And Characterization Of Cracks On Concrete Using Laser Scanning, Yunfeng Ge, Jenny Liu, Xiong Zhang, Huiming Tang, Xiaolong Xia

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Accurate crack detection and characterization on concrete are essential for the maintenance, safety, and serviceability of various infrastructures. In this paper, an innovative approach was developed to automatically measure the cracks from 3D point clouds collected by a phase-shift terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) (FARO Focus3D S120). The approach integrates several techniques to characterize the cracks, which include the deviation on point normal determined using k-nearest neighbor (kNN) and principal components analysis (PCA) algorithms to identify the cracks, and principal axes and curve skeletons of cracks to determine the projected and real dimensions of cracks, respectively. The coordinate transformation was then …

Predicting The Friction Coefficient Of High-Friction Surface Treatment Application Aggregates Using The Aggregates' Characteristics, Ahmed S. El-Ashwah, Korrenn Broaddus, Magdy Abdelrahman

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Providing Sufficient Pavement Surface Friction (I.e., Skid Resistance) between Vehicle Tires and Pavement Surface throughout the Pavement Service Life is Considered to Be One of the Main Objectives of Highway Design. Moreover, Vehicle Safety, the Amount of Consumed Fuel, and the Wearing Rate of Vehicle Tires Generally Are Influenced by Pavement Surface Friction. in This Study, a Comprehensive Experimental Testing Program Was Conducted on Different Aggregate Sources, Including Calcined Bauxite and Five Alternative Local Sources, to Assess their Friction Characteristics. the Testing Program Included a British Pendulum Tester (BPT) and a Dynamic Friction Tester (DFT), Which Were Used to Evaluate …

Reducing The Vulnerability Of Electric Power Infrastructure Against Natural Disasters By Promoting Distributed Generation, Gasser G. Ali, Islam H. El-Adaway, Charles Sims, J. Scott Holladay, Chien Fei Chen

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Natural disasters cause significant damage to the electrical power infrastructure every year. Therefore, there is a crucial need to reduce the vulnerability of the electric power grid against natural disasters. Distributed generation (DG) represents small-scale decentralized power generation that can help reduce the vulnerability of the grid, among many other benefits. Examples of DG include small-scale photo-voltaic (PV) systems. Accordingly, the goal of this paper is to investigate the benefits of DG in reducing the vulnerability of the electric power infrastructure by mitigating against the impact of natural disasters on transmission lines. This was achieved by developing a complex system-of-systems …

Development Of A Unified Personal And Commercial Residential Hurricane Vulnerability Model Including Sensitivity And Uncertainty Studies, Roberto Vicente Silva De Abreu

Theses and Dissertations

As the population and properties in the state of Florida increase, there is an increase in hurricane losses. Hurricane winds and debris can impact the exterior components of a building envelope. The envelope breaches and defects of these components provide a pathway to hurricane wind-driven rain into the building, which causes interior and contents damage. Loss models, such as the Florida Public Hurricane Loss Model (FPHLM), estimate hurricane insured losses for portfolios of buildings. The vulnerability component of the FPHLM has a personal residential module (PR), for single family homes, and a commercial residential module (CR-LR), for apartment buildings. They …

Comparing 1d, 2d, And 3d Hydraulic Models In Urban Flooding Applications, Taylor Kesler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Floods have been a hazard to people since people first started building near rivers. Predicting floods can be very beneficial to save lives and property. Computers have made it possible to solve fluid dynamics equations in a fast and efficient manner. Computer programs have been designed to solve these equations and create digital models of floods.

This study compares three different methods of computer modeling and explores their advantages and disadvantages. One-dimensional models solve fluid equations by setting up a series of cross sections. Two-dimensional models use a grid-like mesh to solve fluid equations from one cell to the next. …

Preferences Toward Augmented Reality Technologies For Pedestrian Navigation, Victoria Alejandra Diaz Mejia

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates the demand for pedestrian navigation supported by augmented reality (AR) via headset and mobile technologies by evaluating factors specific to each technology and the decision makers. Recent advances in digital engineering systems, e.g., digital twins and smart cities, are enabling new services like AR-supported wayfinding for pedestrians. Still, it is unknown whether American pedestrians would use AR, the type devices and feature that add value to their navigation, the demographic profiles more inclined to AR wayfinding, and the sensitivity of such demand to software and hardware cost. As the first investigation addressing the demand for AR pedestrian …

Estimating Seasonal Crop Water Consumption In Irrigated Lands Using Soil Moisture And Reference Evapotranspiration, Oliver Henry Hargreaves

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The increase in population and the megadrought that the American west has been experiencing for the past two decades and for the foreseeable future are the cause of great stress on the region’s water resources. In an effort to mitigate the worst effects of water shortages many public and private agencies have been pursuing ways to reduce water use while maintaining the current status quo of living standards, industrial productivity, and agricultural yield. This project aims to study water use in irrigated lands dedicated to agriculture with the objective of quantifying crop water use, often referred to as evapotranspiration (ET), …

Improved Sustainability And Efficiency Of Partial Depth Concrete Bridge Deck Repair, Israi I. H. Abu Shanab

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recently, significant advances have been made in the development of rapid setting cementitious materials for partial depth bridge deck repair. The rapid set times of these materials allow for traffic to be re-opened onto the bridge deck in several hours versus days once the material has been placed. While this is a substantial improvement in reducing the traffic closure time, a large amount of time is still spent on the removal of damaged and deteriorated bridge deck and in preparing the concrete cutouts for placement of the rapid set material. Partial deck removal is a much more delicate process than …

Performance Assessment Of Bioasphalt Mixtures Containing Guayule Resin As An Innovative Biobased Asphalt Alternative, Ahmed Hemida, Magdy Abdelrahman

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Guayule resin was investigated through mixture to assess its role in the field performance. For performance comparisons, conventional asphalt, neat guayule, asphalt-rubber-guayule, and guayule-rubber binders were implied. Field-simulated lab mixtures were made to investigate the major distresses. Modified Lottman, rut, semicircular bending, and disk-shaped compact tension tests were used to assess stripping, rutting, fatigue, and thermal cracking resistances. Stripping and rutting susceptibilities were also assessed by Hamburg wheel-tracking test. The outcomes disclosed that when the modified Lottman test was used, guayule containing a 7% air content was more susceptible to stripping than that containing a 3.5% air content, resulting in …

Efficient Recycling Of Waste Rubber In A Sustainable Fiber-Reinforced Mortar And Its Damping And Energy Dissipation Capacity, Haodao Li, Wu Jian Long, Kamal Khayat

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A Great Number of Waste Tires Are Discarded in Landfills, Occupying Land Resources, and Severely Endangering the Ecosystem. Upcycling These Wastes as Aggregates to Partially Substitute Natural Sand and Develop Structure-Function Integration in Concrete Structures is a Desirable Solution. in This Study, a Sustainable Fiber-Reinforced Rubberized Mortar with Superior Material Damping and Moderate Strength is Developed by Combined Use of Waste Crumb Rubber (WCR) Incorporated at 0, 30%, and 60%, by Volume of Sand, and Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) Fiber Added at 0, 0.5%, and 1%, by Volume, in a High-Volume Fly Ash Binder System. Low-Temperature Plasma (LTP) Pre-Treatment of the …

Analysis Of Eccentrically Loaded Frp Partially Wrapped Reinforced Concrete Columns Subjected To Combined Environmental Erosion, Zhiqiang Gu, Congjie Wei, Chenglin Wu, Danying Gao, Peibo You, Dong Wei

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Behavior of Eccentrically Loaded Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Partially Wrapped Reinforced Concrete (RC) Columns under Combined Environmental Erosion Was Investigated in This Paper. Circular RC Columns Were Firstly Subjected to Chloride Erosion Where the Target Corrosion Degree (0, 10 %, and 20 %) is Obtained with Externally Applied Current. This Was Then Followed by Partially Strengthening with 2-Ply of Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) Strips as Well as 50 Freeze–thaw Cycles. Series of Eccentric Compression Tests Were Conducted with Ranging Eccentricities of 0, 5 Mm, 10 Mm, and 15 Mm. for Comparison, the Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) Partially …

Discrete-Element Modeling Of Shear-Induced Particle Migration During Concrete Pipe Flow: Effect Of Size Distribution And Concentration Of Aggregate On Formation Of Lubrication Layer, Tooran Tavangar, Masoud Hosseinpoor, Jeffrey S. Marshall, Ammar Yahia, Kamal Khayat

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Paper Seeks to Better Understand the Particulate Mechanics Giving Rise to the Lubrication Layer (LL) in Flows with Wide Particle-Size Distributions (PSD) Typical of Concrete Pumping Applications. the Study Uses a Soft-Sphere Discrete Element Method (DEM) to Simulate the Shear-Induced Particle Migration (SIPM) Mechanism of Formation of the LL. to Provide Realistic Understanding of SIPM and Rheological Heterogeneity of Concrete, Three Wide PSDs (Fine, Medium, and Coarse) and Three Different Concentrations (10 %–40 %) of Five Spherical-Particle Subclasses (1–17 Mm Diameter) Were Investigated. the Radial Evolution of Concentration and Particle Distribution Was Simulated over Time and the LL Formation …

Investigation Of Corrosion Mechanism Of Ribbed Mild Steel Bars Coated With Magnesium Potassium Phosphate Cement Paste, Fan Zhang, John J. Myers, Wenyu Liao, Cun Hui, Hongyan Ma

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This Study Investigated the Anti-Corrosion Performance of Magnesium Potassium Phosphate Cement (MKPC) Paste Applied to the Surface of Ribbed Mild Steel Bars – Which Was Exposed to Simulated Accelerated Corrosive Environment. Four Electrochemical Approaches Were Used Including Open-Circuit Potential (OCP), Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscope (EIS), Polarization Resistance (PR) and Potentiodynamic Polarization (PDP) over a Period of 5376 H (224 Days). Moreover, Visual Inspection, Optical Microscope, and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) Were Used to Assess the Extent of Corrosion on the Samples. to Understand the Mechanism of Corrosion Protection of the Coating System, X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) …

Motivators And Preferences Of Route Diversion During Roadway Incidents, Grace Cole

LSU Master's Theses

When confronted with congestion and delay, drivers often divert their route. Depending on factors like purpose, urgency, destination, route alternatives, type of disruption, and mode options, common diversionary options can range from changing departure time, route, and mode to canceling a trip altogether. One of the foundational building blocks of travel forecasting is traffic assignment, which is used to distribute trips over a network using complex algorithms to aggregately represent the desire of drivers to minimize travel time.

While these assignment models are backed by decades of research and observational experience, they are also limited by the fact that they …

Raveling Performance Of Conventional And Rubberized Chip Seal Under Field And Laboratory Traffic Loading, Alireza Pourhassan, Ahmed A. Gheni, Mohamed Elgawady

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Raveling, or the Loss of Surface Aggregate, is a Major Concern in Chip Seal Pavement. Previous Studies Have Used the Standard Sweep, Vialit, and Pennsylvania Tests to Evaluate Raveling, But These Tests Do Not Replicate the Stresses of Rolling Vehicle Tires on Chip Seal and Have Produced Inconsistent Results. Additionally, These Tests Mainly Evaluate Early-Stage Raveling Due to their Short Curing Time. in This Study, a Small-Wheel Traffic Simulation Device (SWTS) Was Used to Apply Similar Stresses as Rolling Vehicle Tires and Produce Comparable Raveling Results. This Was Confirmed through a 13-Month Field Observation of Chip Seal, Where the Laboratory …

Optimizing Locations And Sizes Of Asphalt Concrete Plants In Karbala, Iraq, Ghayath Ali, Sawsan R Mohammad, Alaa M. Abdulhussein

Al-Bahir Journal for Engineering and Pure Sciences

This study develops and presents a methodology for determining the optimal geographic distribution and size of asphalt concrete plants in Karbala, Iraq, in order to minimize the cost of asphalt concrete produced. The purpose of this study is to discuss these points. The methodology can identify potential locations for asphalt concrete plants within a study area, considering the plants' operation and capital costs and the costs of transporting raw materials to the plants and asphalt concrete to demand centers. Matrix Laboratory (MATLAB) software have been used to program the methodology. This methodology has been applied to Karbala using actual data. …

Hyperspectral Reflectance For Determination Of Steel Rebar Corrosion And Cl− Concentration, Pengfei Ma, Liang Fan, Genda Chen

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In This Study, a New Method is Proposed to Determine Chloride Ion (Cl−) Concentration and Steel Rebar Corrosion from Hyperspectral Spectroscopy. Three Groups of Mortar Cubes with Water-To-Cement (W/c) Ratios of 0.5, 0.6, and 0.7 Were Subjected to Rapid Corrosion Testing in 3.5 Wt% NaCl Solution to Accelerate the Transport of Chloride Ions. Embedded Along the Centerline of Each Mortar Cube Was a Steel Rebar that Corroded When the Cl− Accumulation Around It Exceeded a Critical/threshold Concentration. Open Circuit Potential Was Measured to Characterize the Corrosion Possibility of Steel Rebar. Mortar Surfaces Were Scanned with a Hyperspectral Camera in the …