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Towards Sustainable Additive Manufacturing: Assessment Of Cost, Greenhouse Gas Emission, And Recyclability, Lei Di
Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations
Additive Manufacturing technologies fabricate 3D objects layer by layer following a predesigned CAD model. Owing to the unique layer-wise production method, additive manufacturing offers competitive advantages in comparison with traditional subtractive manufacturing, such as shortened production time, increased design freedom, improved manufacturing capability and complexity, and reduced manufacturing waste. Numerous research studies have been conducted to design, understand, and improve additive manufacturing technologies in order to facilitate the implementation in the supply chain. On the other hand, with the rapid growth of additive manufacturing, sustainability issues that exist on both process level and supply chain level have started to receive …
Performance Evaluation Of Recycled Plastic Pins In Two Layers To Stabilize Deep Slope Failures, Sachini Madanayake
Performance Evaluation Of Recycled Plastic Pins In Two Layers To Stabilize Deep Slope Failures, Sachini Madanayake
Civil Engineering Dissertations
Slope failures are a common occurrence in highway embankments throughout Texas due to the presence of high plastic clays with expansive behavior. Although shallow slope failures are prevalent, slope failures extending deeper into the slope occur due to the development of micro and macro cracks. The cracks facilitate the infiltration of rainwater deeper into the slope over time. Slope failures incur thousands of dollars’ worth of repairs every year for transportation departments across the country. Recycled Plastic Pins (RPP) have been identified as an effective, cost efficient, and sustainable solution to stabilize shallow failures. The resistance of RPP is mobilized …
Carbon Footprint Assessment And Emissions Reduction Strategies For The University Of Texas At Arlington, Dravid Sabarish Villavan Kothai
Carbon Footprint Assessment And Emissions Reduction Strategies For The University Of Texas At Arlington, Dravid Sabarish Villavan Kothai
Civil Engineering Theses
In the past decade, many universities have started to ascertain their emissions and benchmark their progress towards sustainability and climate control. The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) is no exception in working toward the goal of carbon neutrality. While UTA continues to grow and transform, its goal is to simultaneously reduce energy intensity and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To this end, the Office of Sustainability is maintaining a carbon inventory for each year to track GHG emissions and provide information to guide reduction strategies. The primary objectives of this research were: 1. To update UTA’s greenhouse gas emissions inventory …
Evolution Of Sustainability And Resilience In Military Master Planning: Examining Planners' Perceptions, Rhonda E. Fields
Evolution Of Sustainability And Resilience In Military Master Planning: Examining Planners' Perceptions, Rhonda E. Fields
Public Affairs Dissertations
An increasingly globalized world and mounting threats to our economy, environment, and social structures have brought the concepts of sustainability and resilience into sharp focus. These threats include climate change, rapid urbanization, and loss of biodiversity in an increasing volatile, uncertain, ambiguous, and complex world. Sustainability and resilience have emerged as key concepts in understanding and addressing urban dynamics toward a livable urban future. These concepts are important because resilience typically deals with the short-term issues surrounding predicting and responding to immediate threats, while sustainability looks at the long-term, steady state of the built and natural environment. Focusing on resilience …
Comparison Of Environmental And Social Costs Of Trenchless Cured-In-Place Pipe Renewal Method With Open-Cut Pipeline Replacement For Sanitary Sewers, Vinayak Kaushal
Comparison Of Environmental And Social Costs Of Trenchless Cured-In-Place Pipe Renewal Method With Open-Cut Pipeline Replacement For Sanitary Sewers, Vinayak Kaushal
Civil Engineering Dissertations
The development of underground infrastructure, environmental concerns, and economic trends is influencing society, resulting in the advancement of technology for more efficient, environment-friendly, and cost-effective pipeline installation and renewal. Comparison of environmental and social costs of a pipeline renewal and replacement is an essential element when considering sustainable development of underground infrastructure. Project owners, decision makers, design and consulting and contractors commonly take into consideration the construction costs only, and overlook the environmental and social cost aspects while making a choice between trenchless and open-cut pipeline installation. Trenchless Cured-in-Place Pipe (CIPP) involves a liquid thermoset resin saturated material that is …
Long Term Performance Monitoring Of Shallow Slope Stabilization Utilizing Recycled Plastic Pins, Cory Alan Rauss
Long Term Performance Monitoring Of Shallow Slope Stabilization Utilizing Recycled Plastic Pins, Cory Alan Rauss
Civil Engineering Theses
Shallow slope failures are prevalent within the North Texas region. As highway slopes are underlain with high plastic clayey soils that experience cyclic shrinking and swelling, the soils shear strength generally decreases as the soil softens, making the soil more susceptible to sloughing and landslides. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) generally executes a rapid repair method as an economical option for repairing the slope. This method includes the failed soil removal, replacement, and recompaction to rectify the slope surface. While economical initially, this rapid repair technique may potentially prove to be costly with repeated repairs as the method does …
Sustainable Ground Improvement Method Using Recycled Plastic Pins, Md Nur Basit Zaman
Sustainable Ground Improvement Method Using Recycled Plastic Pins, Md Nur Basit Zaman
Civil Engineering Dissertations
Failure of civil engineering infrastructures due to insufficient bearing and shearing capacity of the unsuitable foundation soil is a common problem in the area of North Texas which results in significant maintenance issues for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). The major concerns regarding construction over such foundation soil includes excessive total and differential settlement of footing resulting in bearing capacity failure and sliding failure of the Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) retaining structure due to inadequate shear resistance. The most common technique followed by TxDOT to counter such problem is to remove and replace the existing soil with appropriate fill …
Assessment Of Sustainability And Resilience In Transportation Infrastructure Geotechnics, Jasaswee T. Das
Assessment Of Sustainability And Resilience In Transportation Infrastructure Geotechnics, Jasaswee T. Das
Civil Engineering Dissertations
Transportation infrastructure, such as roads, embankments, bridges, railroads, airports, docks, and canals, serve as pathways for the mobility of people, goods, and services, and form the backbone of cities and communities. The construction, operation, and rehabilitation of these facilities put significant strain on the local, state, and federal agencies, including depletion of natural resources, and contributing to the global carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions. Further, these features stimulate anthropocentric development in a region which affects the land-use patterns and influences the demography of communities. In recent years, most transportation infrastructure are typically designed to withstand external and internal disturbances …
Emerging Grassroots Energy Communities: An Assemblage Theory Analysis, Ali Mohammed Adil
Emerging Grassroots Energy Communities: An Assemblage Theory Analysis, Ali Mohammed Adil
Public Affairs Dissertations
In context of the federal leadership vacuum in the United States on climate action and sustainable energy development and consequent subnational policy and regulatory variations, the rise of citizen-led grassroots energy communities (GECs) is increasingly considered as a countervailing civic force in the mainstream energy system. However, as grassroots attempts to transform the carbon-intensive, centralized energy system gain in prominence, attracting broad-based support and generating a multitude of social organization and governance models, citizen advocacy, activism and on-the-ground local projects encounter varying socio-cultural, policy and regulatory support structures across urban and regional landscapes leading to disparate outcomes. Yet, the advent …
Sustainable Sites Initiative Certification In Texas: Obstacles And Benefits Affecting Stakeholder Perception, Jamie Chism Leonie
Sustainable Sites Initiative Certification In Texas: Obstacles And Benefits Affecting Stakeholder Perception, Jamie Chism Leonie
Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses
The purpose of this research is to examine perceptions of key stakeholders involved in three SITES®-certified pilot projects in Texas to determine the obstacles and benefits they experienced in certifying the projects. The Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES®) is a sustainability-focused framework that guides landscape architects, engineers and others toward practices that protect ecosystems and enhance the mosaic of benefits they continuously provide our communities, such as climate regulation, carbon storage and flood mitigation. SITES® is the culmination of years of research and development by leading professionals in the fields of soil, water, vegetation, materials and human health (GBCI, 2017). A …
Structural Competency And Environmental Soundness Of The Recycled Base Materials In North Texas, Mohammad Faysal
Structural Competency And Environmental Soundness Of The Recycled Base Materials In North Texas, Mohammad Faysal
Civil Engineering Dissertations
Aggregates, which are derived from natural resources, are the most important raw materials used in pavement construction; however, depletion of the natural resources, increasing labor costs, and environmental concerns have led us to look for alternatives. Recycled materials, such as recycled crushed concrete aggregate (RCCA) and reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), can be used as an alternative to natural aggregates and can be obtained from construction of newer structures and demolition of existing structures, such as buildings, bridges, pavement, etc. Recycled materials can reduce the cost, depletion of natural resources, and construction debris. The properties of recycled materials are source-dependent, which …
Evaluation Of Food Waste Diversion Potential And Economics Of Using Food Waste Dehydrators, Arindam Dhar
Evaluation Of Food Waste Diversion Potential And Economics Of Using Food Waste Dehydrators, Arindam Dhar
Civil Engineering Theses
According to US EPA (2013), food waste is the second largest component (14.6%) of MSW composition in the US, preceded only by paper. Apart from the negative environmental impacts of food waste through methane and leachate generation, it also incurs huge cost to landfill them. Hence, food waste diversion from landfills is becoming a major issue in landfills across many US states. Though biological treatment of food waste is a potential alternative for food waste diversion, the existing scale of this type of treatment is very narrow. On-site treatment of food waste is a suitable alternative as it can be …
A System Dynamics Approach Applied To Wind Energy System Sustainability, Jenny Maria Tejeda Carlos
A System Dynamics Approach Applied To Wind Energy System Sustainability, Jenny Maria Tejeda Carlos
Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations
Sustainability of energy systems is one of the most important challenges currently facing humanity. Access to energy is critical to ensure economic and social development of a nation (UNDP et al., 2000); however, extraction, production and consumption of energy resources are also associated with high volumes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, environmental damage and, in some cases, adverse health effects in communities where energy facilities are located. Renewable energy sources have been considered as an alternative to traditional energy sources to meet energy demand in a sustainable manner (Del Rio and Burguillo, 2008). Wind energy is considered to be one …
Climate Change Planning In Dallas-Fort Worth: Discourse And Public Participation In A Politically Conservative Region, Ann W. Foss
Climate Change Planning In Dallas-Fort Worth: Discourse And Public Participation In A Politically Conservative Region, Ann W. Foss
Public Affairs Dissertations
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges currently facing our world, and in the field of planning there has been much attention paid to climate action planning by environmental leader cities. However, political controversy surrounds climate change in the United States, making it difficult for some cities and regions to explicitly and effectively respond to climate change. This dissertation examines planning actions related to the federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant, and climate change more broadly, in the politically conservative Dallas-Fort Worth region of Texas from 2005 to 2015. In particular, the research strives to better understand the …