Engineering Commons^™

Performance Of Concrete With Different Cement Finenesses And Nano-Activators, Brandon Faltin

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The excessive shrinkage in modern concrete is the result of the construction industry in its quest to complete the job as soon as possible. In order to accomplish this, the fineness of cement was increased significantly in recent decades for a faster rate of strength gain. To combat the cement fineness and reverse the trend of shrinkage, the usage of coarse cements and nanoparticles should be strongly considered. The coarse cement is used to reduce the shrinkage of concrete, while the nanoparticle increases the early strength, alleviating the original concerns of reduced early strength when using coarse cement.

Work in …

A Case Study Of Protecting Bridges Against Overheight Vehicles, Aly Mousaad Aly, Marc Hoffmann

Faculty Publications

Most transportation departments have recognized and developed procedures to address the ever-increasing weights of trucks traveling on bridges in service today. Transportation agencies also recognize the issues with overheight vehicles’ collisions with bridges, but few stakeholders have definitive countermeasures. Bridges are becoming more vulnerable to collisions from overheight vehicles. The exact response under lateral impact force is difficult to predict. In this paper, nonlinear impact analysis shows that the degree of deformation recorded through the modeling of the unprotected vehicle-girder model provides realistic results compared to the observation from the US-61 bridge overheight vehicle impact. The predicted displacements are 0.229 …

Estimation Of Methane Emissions From Beef Cattle Manure In Nebraska, Noe Hernandez

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The emission of methane from livestock production contributes to climate change. Cattle manure accounts for one-third of the total methane emission over the lifecycle of beef and dairy production and represents an opportunity to lower the environmental footprint of the beef industry. While models have been developed to estimate methane emissions from manure under certain types of manure storage methods, there is a lack of a user-friendly interface that agricultural or environmental engineers can use to estimate the methane emission from manure for specific regions. Therefore, the goal of this study was to build an interface to estimate methane emissions …

A Study On The Use Of An Energy-Regenerative Tuned Mass Damper For Vibration Control And Monitoring Of Base-Isolated Buildings, Mohsen Amjadian

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper studies the use of an energy-regenerative tuned mass damper (ER-TMD) to (a) passively control the displacement of superstructure of a two-degree-of-freedom base-isolated building model equipped with elastomeric rubber bearings and (b) simultaneously generate electric energy that can be used to power conventional sensors installed on the building to monitor its response during an earthquake. The proposed passive ER-TMD is composed of two parts: mechanical and electrical. The mechanical part consists of a moving mass (i.e., TMD mass) attached to the base floor through a linear spring-damper system, and the electrical part consists of two large permanent magnets, a …

Analyzing Resource Allocation And Levelling In Construction Projects, Mohamed Eizeldin, Mohamed Hussein Hegazy, Ahmed Alhady, Shahir Ashraf

Civil Engineering

Project scheduling has been crucial in any construction project since applying poor scheduling may lead to cost overruns and delays. The most commonly used technique for scheduling is the critical path method (CPM). As CPM neglects the availability of resources and assumes only time as a constrain; therefore, the resource allocation problem (RAP) technique is introduced. RAP appears when the number of resources required exceeds the number of resources available. Moreover, as a result of solving the RAP, another problem will occur known as the resource leveling problem (RLP). RLP lead to lots of hiring and firing of laborers. Researchers …

Subdivision Site Design In Antwerp Township, Peyton Smith

Honors Theses

Design and development of a subdivision on an empty plot of land off Red Arrow Highway in Antwerp Township, MI.

Subdivision Site Design In Antwerp Township, Alec Denbraber

Honors Theses

Design and development of a subdivision on an empty plot of land off Red Arrow Highway in Antwerp Township, MI.

Roundabout Design At Clare Ave And Us 127, Clare, Mi, Elise Olson

Honors Theses

For our senior design project, we conducted an intersection improvement in Clare Michigan. On the north end of Clare at the interchange of US-127 and Clare Avenue, the Michigan Department of Transportation has been working with the Clare County Road Commission in an effort to redo this interchange. The ideal interchange will be a roundabout that includes the entrance and exit ramps of NB US-127, NB and SB Clare Ave, and Colonville Road. With the assistance of AutoCAD, PTV Vistro, and Microsoft Project, our team conducted a full roundabout design and park & ride redesign. Our team then developed an …

Western Michigan University Main Campus Parking Garage, Brendan Graham

Honors Theses

Student parking when attending class seems to be an issue at most universities. At Western Michigan University, it is a particular issue near the Haworth College of Business and Rood Hall. Students regularly struggle to find parking spaces in a timely manner when attending class in this area. Parking in this area currently consists solely of asphalt parking lots. It was our goal to both increase parking capacity and green space in this area. We will do this by designing a multi-level parking garage that will provide a more efficient use of parking space. As you will see later on, …

A Smart Illicit Discharge Monitoring System, Alexander Campbell, Henry S. Armstrong, Tien Yee

Symposium of Student Scholars

In the present study, we attempt to use a variety of sensors to monitor illicit discharges that are present near the Kennesaw State University Marietta Campus. The US Environmental Protection Agency defines an illicit discharge as “any discharge into a storm drain system that is not composed entirely of stormwater”. Each year, approximately 860 billion gallons of sewage spills are reported throughout the country. In Georgia, sewer spills data shows that spills may range from hundreds of gallons to millions of gallons depending on the severity of the leak. The undetected sewer leaks may degrade the water quality in nearby …

Cost-Efficient Bridge Scour Health Monitoring Using Commercial Sensors, Connor Embleau, Tien Yee, Metin Oguzmert, Mahyar Amirgholy, Alan Akazemi, Dale Goff

Symposium of Student Scholars

Bridge scouring has been a major international issue regarding bridge health and the overall longevity of a bridge. A common bridge health concern such as scouring accounts for close to 60% of bridge failures in the United States and is a leading cause to a bridge being in critical condition. Traditional methods to combat this failure is to measure the scour depth to assess a bridge health. Due to safety concerns of the traditional method, this study proposes to monitor a bridge’s health using a vibration-based technique. At present, vibration-based techniques have yet to be utilized reliably in the field. …

Effect Of Structural Nonlinearities On Flutter Of Cable-Supported Bridges, Sébastien Maheux

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

It is well known that cable-supported bridges, like suspension bridges and cable-stayed bridges, are structures that are highly sensitive to wind. This is why there has been an important research effort over the past decades on aeroelastic instability phenomena in bridges like flutter. This has allowed the safe design of long-span bridges with respect to wind effects. Nonetheless, the analysis methods that have become the norm in the field of bridge engineering, such as flutter analysis and wind tunnel tests, rely on some simplifications to facilitate analysis. For example, they assume a linear structural behavior of the bridge structure. Therefore, …

Analysis Of Standing Seam Metal Roofs Subjected To Extreme Wind Loads, Yuchao Xia

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Standing seam metal roof (SSMR) systems are widely used in low-rise buildings. This study aims to understand the behavior of SSMR systems, especially the failure mechanisms, under severe wind loads. Full-scale experiments conducted at Insurance Research Lab for Better Homes make it possible to examine the performance of SSMR systems with realistic dimensions and boundary conditions. The induced loads on the clips could be measured directly. The results show that there is a linear relationship between the wind pressure and clip reaction under low wind pressure (less than 500 Pa). It is found that load sharing among clips changes at …

A New Generation Of Open-Graded Friction Course For Enhanced Durability And Functionality, Hossam Abohamer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study aims at (1) enhancing Open Graded Friction Course (OGFC) mixes durability using additives and other by-products; (2) investigating the impacts of selected factors on OGFC pavements seepage characteristics; (3) developing a quantitative tool to model the deterioration in OGFC pavements functional performance; and (4) developing new guidelines of Air Void (AV) content for OGFC for optimum functionality and durability. For the durability objective, eight mixes were prepared with a PG 76-22 binder and two sources of aggregate (i.e., # 78 limestone and # 67 sandstone). Three Warm Mix Additives (WMA), one by-product (i.e., crumb rubber [CR]), and two …

Investigation Of Groundwater Depletion And Leveel Underseepage With Unstructured-Grid Modeling Approach, Ye-Hong Chen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Unstructured grid is a tessellation of geometric shapes in irregular patterns that provides flexibility in grid design for groundwater modeling. However, groundwater modeling is mostly developed with uniform grid tessellation and layer, which could simplify model structure or cause expensive computational costs in high-resolution simulations. Unstructured grid incorporates non-uniform horizontal and non-uniform vertical discretizations providing the capability to replicate complex hydrostratigraphy, capture geologic features that are crucial for groundwater flow simulation, and reduce computational costs while maintaining a high resolution for areas of interest. This study contains three parts to investigate unstructured-grid approach on constructing high-fidelity groundwater models, comparisons with …

Arthur Cotton And The Development Of Public Works, Justin Patty

The Larrie and Bobbi Weil Undergraduate Research Award

In the long history of violence and cruelty that defined the period of British rule in India, Arthur Cotton is one of the few men remembered today not for his crimes, but for the good he did for the people of India. Cotton’s irrigation projects protected millions of Indians from the threat of famine, but the true legacy of his work is global in scope. As a major figure in the development of India’s infrastructure for most of the nineteenth century, Cotton witnessed the British Empire struggle with questions about its role in facilitating public works projects. Despite the Empire’s …

Policy Strategies To Solve The U.S. Recycling Crisis, Flavia M. Scotto D'Antuono

Student Publications

Following China’s Operation National Sword in 2018, the politics and economics of recycling have increasingly come under scrutiny as many examine whether it remains a worthwhile endeavor. Differences across municipalities, changing prices of goods, contamination, mislabeling, and involvement by the plastics industry has further confused the issue. This paper examines to what extent a national recycling policy would be effective and what form it may take using several case studies - whether it be mandatory recycled content minimums, extended producer responsibility, or allowing the industry to phase out completely,

Reducing Early-Age Shrinkage Cracks Of Bridge Decks And Rails, Soumitra Das, George Morcous, Jiong Hu

UNL Student Research Days Posters, Graduate

Early-age shrinkage cracking of concrete bridge decks and rails accelerates the penetration of water and chemicals which leads to reinforcement corrosion, delamination, and eventually spalling. All this results in shorter service life, road closure, and costly repair. Development of Low-cement concrete(LCC) mix to reduce early age shrinkage crack through aggregate grading optimization was done in this research work. This approach also reduces concrete cost ($15-$20/cyd) (15–25%) and its carbon footprint (≈15%).

Novel Damage Index-Based Rapid Evaluation Of Civil Infrastructure Subsurface Defects Using Thermography Analytics, Tianjie Zhang, Md Asif Rahman, Alex Peterson, Yang Lu

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The qualitative measurement is a common practice in infrastructure condition inspection when using Infrared Thermography (IRT), as it can effectively locate the defected area non-destructively and non-contact. However, a quantitative evaluation becomes more significant because it can help decision makers figure out specific compensation plans to deal with defects. In this work, an IRT-based novel damage index, damage density, was proposed to quantify the significance of subsurface defects. This index is extracted from IR images using our thermography analytics framework. The proposed framework includes thermal image processing, defect edge detection, and thermal gradient map calculations. A modified root mean square …

Coalitional Game Theory For Stormwater Management And Green Infrastructure Practices, Carly Lawyer

Theses and Dissertations

As global warming and climate Variability bring about more frequent and intense rainstorms and accelerate sea level rise, our social and built environments are at heightened risk of flood induced damages and consequent costs. This is particularly true for coastal areas, facing the coupled effects of these threats while serving as home to people, businesses, unique landscapes, and historic landmarks. Complex decisions at all levels of government and community planning stand to benefit from increased understanding of possible outcomes and pathways resulting from decentralized human behavior and decision making in the realm of water resources engineering and management. Game theory …

Effects Of Emergency Vehicle Warning Lighting System Characteristics On Driver Perception And Behavior, Emily Hiebner

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Secondary crashes, including struck-by incidents are a leading cause of line-of-duty deaths among emergency responders, such as firefighters, law enforcement officers, and emergency medical service providers. The introduction of light emitting diode (LED) sources and advanced lighting control systems, provides a wide range of options for emergency lighting configurations. This study investigated the impact of lighting color, intensity, modulation, and flash rate on driver behavior while traversing a traffic incident scene at night. The impact of retroreflective chevron markings in combination with lighting configurations, as well as the measurement of “moth-to-flame” effects of emergency lighting on drivers was also investigated. …

Classification Of Acoustic Emission Data Into Load Steps Using An Artificial Neural Network, Allen Ross

Theses and Dissertations

The average age of bridges in South Carolina is approaching 40 years, very close to the 50-year service life. Almost 11% of the bridges in South Carolina are rated as structurally deficient, greater than the national average of 7.5% (South 2021). Health monitoring is the concept that in-situ sensors can continuously monitor civil structures and send real time signals of damage. This process allows for automation and could save time and money on the inspection and load rating of bridges. Health monitoring requires sensors that provide uninterrupted data without sacrificing the functionality of the bridge. A prime candidate for this …

The Effect Of Concrete Material Properties On Rigid Pavement Design In South Carolina, Nicolet Anne Devine

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents the effect of concrete material inputs on rigid pavement design in the state of South Carolina. The impact of concrete strength input parameters in the historical AASHTO pavement design method and MEPDG method is investigated using three newly constructed concrete sections, I-85 in Cherokee County, I-20 in Lexington County, and I-85 in Spartanburg County. Strength data obtained from the sections were the result of QA/QC testing provided by the SCDOT during construction, as well as from UofSC laboratory testing. The compressive strength data from these tests was correlated to the elastic modulus and modulus of rupture (which …

Building Services Engineering March/April 2022

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Fast-Pgmed: Fast And Dense Elevation Determination For Earthwork Using Drone And Deep Learning, Sisi Han, Yuhan Jiang, Yong Bai

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

This paper presents a time- and cost-effective elevation determination method for earthwork operations using ready-to-fly imaging drones and deep learning technologies. The proposed method is named the fast pixel grid/group matching and elevation determination (Fast-PGMED) algorithm. The input data are a pair of approximate 2:1-scale top-view images, and the output is the determined elevation map for the scanned station. Feature matching of the two multiscale images is conducted by calculating correlations between target patch predictions (via DeepMatchNet, a fully convolutional network) and potential target patches (via virtual elevation model). The overall processing time is about 21 s …

Post Aerobic Digestion (Pad) Is A Solids Sidestream Nutrient Removal Process That Utilizes Native Carbon: Performance And Key Operational Parameters From Two Full-Scale Pad Reactors, Patrick J. Mcnamara, Fabrizio Sabba, Eric Redmond, Patrick Dunlap, Thomas Worley-Morse, Christopher Marks, Leon Downing

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Nutrient management is a critical issue for Water Resource Recovery Facilities, and sidestream treatment technologies to reduce nutrient loads often focus on liquid sidestreams and require external carbon sources. Post aerobic digestion (PAD), whereby an aerobic digester follows an anaerobic digester, treats a solids stream (i.e., anaerobic digester effluent) to reduce nitrogen loads. Volatile solids reduction occurs in this process with residual organic compounds serving as a native carbon source for denitrification. While this process has been evaluated at the lab-scale, information on operational parameters that affect full-scale performance is limited. We evaluated two separate full-scale PAD reactors …

Behavior Of Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete Made With Recycled Concrete Aggregates: Material Characterization And Deep Beam Shear Response, Nancy Kachouh

Dissertations

This research aims to examine the performance of concrete made with recycled concrete aggregates (RCAs) and steel fibers. It comprises material characterization tests, large-scale reinforced concrete (RC) deep beam tests, and numerical modeling. Material characterization test parameters included the RCA replacement percentage (30, 70, and 100%) and the steel fiber volume fraction (vf = 1, 2, and 3%). Fourteen large-scale deep beam numerical models with and without web openings made with 100% RCAs and steel fibers were developed and validated through a comparative analysis with test results. A numerical parametric study was conducted to investigate the effect of varying …

High-Risk Traffic Crash Pattern Recognition And Identification Using Econometric Models And Machine Learning Models, Runan Yang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Roadway crashes have become a major cause of human deaths and injuries and caused much economic damage. According to World Health Organization (WHO), about 1.35 million people died in traffic crashes and over 50 million people injured from traffic crashes in the year of 2016 (World Health Organization, 2020). Nationally, in the U.S., the latest decade witnessed an increase of over 10% in traffic fatalities (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 2019). Similarly, in state of Florida, the fatal crashes increased by 4.62% from 2019 to 2020 (Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, 2021). To prevent injuries and …

Experimental Analysis And Numerical Investigation Of Aerodynamics Of Elevated Structures, Nourhan Abdelfatah

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The vulnerability of low-rise residential buildings to extreme wind events, such as hurricanes, is an escalating concern due to the frequent failures and losses. Elevated low-rise structures are constructed to reduce the hydrodynamic load from surges and flooding during hurricanes. However, due to the current lack of information, wind loading on elevated coastal structures is not adequately addressed in current international guidelines. To address this knowledge gap, large-scale experimental studies were conducted to precisely determine wind effects on elevated houses with different numbers of stories and varying stilt heights. In this study, comparisons are presented on various tested configurations to …

Development Of The Uhpc Mix For 3d Printing, Buse Ilayda Oz

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis utilizes the development of Ultra-High-Performance Concrete mix design for 3-Dimensional (3D) Printing purposes. 3D concrete printing offers many advantages such as the improvements in safety, quality, and productivity. Moreover, it holds a great advantage for the construction of structural elements that are difficult to construct by conventional methods. These advantages carry a huge potential for solving the aforementioned challenges.

Seven UHPC mixes have been designed and analyzed using various test setups for comparison purposes. Extrudability, flowability, buildability, and open time were measured using the fresh properties of the UHPC mixes. Mechanical properties were measured using compression test setups. …