Engineering Commons^™

A Telescopic Approach To Modeling Leachate Dynamics And Migration At The St. Johns Landfill, Portland, Oregon, Thomas Stephen Lowry

Dissertations and Theses

The St. Johns Landfill is a 225-acre site that lies near the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers, in the North Portland Industrial District of Portland, Oregon. A slough system surrounds the landfill on three sides with the fourth side adjacent to a shallow lake. The landfill first opened in 1930 when it was operated as an open dump. It operated as an open dump until 1969 when it was converted to a sanitary landfill, employing daily cover and compaction. The landfill was closed in 1991.

The landfill sits directly on top of a thick layer of silty overbank …

Water Quality Model For South Slough, Coos Bay, Oregon, Holly Kay Juza

Dissertations and Theses

The South Slough Estuary is located off Coos Bay along the southern coast of Oregon. It is divided into two channels that meet and continue to Coos Bay at the Charleston Harbor. There are six major contributing streams to South Slough. After rainfall events, the level of coliform bacteria in the slough increases because of stream bacteria loading. This is due to cattle grazing in the drainage areas, failed septic systems from private homes, and sewage sludge applied to the County landfill, which drains into the slough. The Oregon Health Division has enforced a Sanitation Management Plan for Commercial Shellfish …

Improved Finite Analytic Methods For Solving Advection-Dominated Transport Equation In Highly Variable Velocity Field, Wei Cuifeng

Dissertations and Theses

Solute transport studies frequently rely on numerical solutions of the classical advection-diffusion equation. Unfortunately, solutions obtained with traditional finite difference and finite element techniques typically exhibit excessive numerical diffusion or spurious oscillation when advection dominates, especially when velocity field is highly variable. One recently developed technique, the finite analytic method, offers an attractive alternative. Finite analytic methods utilize local analytic solutions in discrete elements to obtain the algebraic representations of the governing partial differential equations, thus eliminating the truncation error in the finite difference and the use of approximating functions in the finite element method. The finite analytic solutions have …

Predicting Solute Transport In Natural Streams - A Stochastic Approach, Xueqing Zhou

Dissertations and Theses

The existing theories for predicting longitudinal dispersion in straight open channels have long been recognized as inadequate when applied to natural rivers. These theories tend to grossly underestimate dispersion in real streams since an important mixing mechanism due to nonuniform river cross-section variations is not explicitly taken into account. Recognizing the important role of stream irregularities on solute transport and the analytical difficulties of classical deterministic analysis, we develop a stochastic approach for analyzing solute transport in natural streams. Variations in river width and bed elevation are conveniently represented as one-dimensional random fields, characterized by their autocorrelation functions. Advection and …

Two Dimensional Finite Element Modeling Of Swift Delta Soil Nail Wall By "Abaqus", Richard James Barrows

Dissertations and Theses

Soil nail walls are a form of mechanical earth stabilization for cut situations. They consist of the introduction of passive inclusions (nails) into soil cut lifts. These nailed lifts are then tied together with a structural facing (usually shotcrete) . The wall lifts are constructed incrementally from the top of cut down. Soil nail walls are being recognized as having potential for large cost savings over other alternatives. The increasing need to provide high capacity roadways in restricted rights of way under structures such as bridges will require increasing use of techniques such as combined soil nail and piling walls. …

Modeling Of Flow And Water Quality In Henry Hagg Lake Near Forest Grove, Oregon, Michael T. Knutson

Dissertations and Theses

Increased population growth in Washington County, Oregon, has helped cause the water quality of the Tualatin River to decline. Henry Hagg Lake is a storage reservoir which was built to augment summer low flows in the Tualatin River. Hagg Lake also supplies the Tualatin River Basin with both irrigation and municipal water in the summer. Using the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's model CE-QUAL-W2 (a two-dimensional hydrodynamic and water quality model) , a model of Henry Hagg Lake was created. The model was calibrated using water quality and hydraulic data for 1990 at the Hagg Lake outflow in Scoggins Creek. …

Water Quality Modeling Of The Tualitin River, Christopher John Berger

Dissertations and Theses

Water quality problems related to excessive algal growth, high nutrient loading, and low flows have been occurring along Oregon's Tualatin River. The Tualatin River is 86 miles long and has a drainage basin of 711 square miles. The drainage basin incorporates forest, agricultural, and urban areas. Located in the Portland metropolitan area, these problems have been acerbated by the effects of urban growth. To help analyze pollution control alternatives, a river model study, funded by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ}, was undertaken. An in-stream model of hydraulics and water quality was developed. The Corps of Engineer's CE-QUAL-W2 model, …

Predicting Seepage Of Leachate From The St. Johns Landfill To Ground And Surface Water Systems, Kevin A. Schock

Dissertations and Theses

Determination of the vertical and horizontal groundwater hydraulic gradient within a landfill is the first step in determining the potential of groundwater contamination from the landfill leachate. The length of a study and the frequency at which measurements are recorded can greatly affect the description of the local groundwater environment. A more comprehensive analysis can be preformed for longer periods of study and greater measurement frequency. The intent of this study was to install a continuous groundwater level monitoring system around the st. Johns Landfill for a minimum study length of one year. This would allow a more thorough study …

Gravity Sedimentation: A One-Dimensional Numerical Model, Joanna Robin Karl

Dissertations and Theses

A large fraction of the current cost of wastewater treatment is from the treatment and disposal of wastewater sludge. Improved design, energy efficiency, and performance of dewatering facilities could significantly decrease transport and disposal costs. Dewatering facilities are designed based on field experience, trial and error, pilot plant testing, and/or full scale testing. Design is generally time-consuming and expensive. A full-scale test typically consists_ of side-by-side operation of 4 to 5 full-scale dewatering units for several weeks to more than 6 months. Theoretical modeling of the physics of dewatering units such as the belt filter press, based on laboratory determined …

One-Dimensional Computer Modeling Of Thermal And Water Quality Characteristics Of Coldwater Lake, Wa, David Kevin Whitaker

Dissertations and Theses

Coldwater Lake is a new lake formed when a massive mudflow down the Toutle River Valley, caused by the eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, blocked the natural outlet of Coldwater Creek. This research utilizes physical, biological and chemical data collected at Coldwater Lake during the sun1mers of 1989 and 1990 to calibrate and verify the one-dimensional computer models CE-THERMRl and CE-QUAL-Rl for Coldwater Lake. CE-THERM-R1 was used to simulate thermal characteristics in Coldwater Lake during the summer stratification periods of 1989 and 1990. The model was calibrated to 1989 data and was verified with 1990 data. …

The Use Of Laboratory Testing To Understand The Behavior Of Collapsible Soil Upon Wetting, Martha H. Denham

Dissertations and Theses

In developing a constitutive model that could predict the settlement due to the collapse, several goals needed to be met. These were to gain an understanding of the collapse phenomenon, knowing the soil properties at the natural water content and how they change after collapse, and develop and test the new model. It was felt that laboratory testing could be of use. The types of test conducted included use of the Oedometer, Pressuremeter, and Triaxial tests. The material that was used for the testing was a "generic" soil manufactured out of diatomite. In all of the tests the soil was …

Improved Methodology For Limit States Finite Element Analysis Of Lattice Type Structures Using Nonlinear Post-Buckling Member Performance, Markus Ostendorp

Dissertations and Theses

In an attempt to achieve more efficient designs, the technological frontier is pushed further and further. Every year science probes for a better understanding of natural phenomena, discovering new and improved methods to perform the same task more efficiently and with better results. One of the new technologies is the nonlinear analysis of structural systems using inelastic post-buckling member performance. Inelastic post-buckling member performance is defined as the constitutive relationship between axial load and displacement after the ultimate member capacity has been exceeded. A nonlinear analysis is able to predict the failure behavior of a structural system under ultimate loads …

Stochastic Hydrologic Modeling In Real Time Using A Deterministic Model (Streamflow Synthesis And Reservoir Regulation Model), Time Series Model, And Kalman Filter, Philip Kwok Fan Tang

Dissertations and Theses

The basic concepts of hydrologic forecasting using the Streamflow Synthesis And Reservoir Regulation Model of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, auto-regressive-moving-average time series models (including Greens' functions, inverse functions, auto covariance Functions, and model estimation algorithm), and the Kalman filter (including state space modeling, system uncertainty, and filter algorithm), were explored. A computational experiment was conducted in which the Kalman filter was applied to update Mehama local basin model (Mehama is a 227 sq. miles watershed located on the North Santiam River near Salem, Oregon.), a typical SSARR basin model, to streamflow measurements as they became available in simulated …

Evaluating The Role Of Geogrids In The Rehabilitation Of Cracked Dams Via Numerical Techniques, Kelly Dean Uhacz

Dissertations and Theses

Collapse and cracking of debris earth embankment dams is a serious problem in areas of the arid Western United States. The use of geogrids is evaluated in this thesis as a possible solution to prevent or reduce the amount of damage to the structures from collapse and cracking.

An apparatus was designed, constructed, and instrumented to electronically acquire data to evaluate the behavior of geogrids during pullout tests under various normal stresses. The pullout tests were also modelled using numerical techniques to correlate physical test data with numerical test data. Understanding the behavior of the geogrid, in both the physical …

Limits Of Limit Equilibrium And Finite Element Techniques Applied To Cracked Debris Dams On Collapsing Foundations, Stanley Soliday Jr.

Dissertations and Theses

Limits of slope stability, limit equilibrium methods, and of the finite element code FEADAM are reached in the application of these methods to the problem of cracked dams constructed on collapsing soils.

Density Currents In Circular Wastewater Treatment Tanks, David M. Laliberte

Dissertations and Theses

Deviations from ideal flow and settling occur in circular wastewater treatment tanks because of tank geometry, flow conditions, and density currents caused by variations in suspended solids concentration and temperature distributions. Thermally induced density currents were investigated in this study. Under winter, low flow conditions, measurements were made of vertical and radial temperature distributions in the circular chlorination tank at Lake Oswego, Or., and in the circular primary and secondary clarifiers at Bend, Or. Thermistor arrays were used to collect the data which exhibited both vertically well-mixed and a two-layer flow regime. Inlet geometry and suspended solids in the secondary …

Hyperbolic Soil Parameters For Granular Soils Derived From Pressuremeter Tests For Finite Element Programs, Dieter Neumann

Dissertations and Theses

In the discipline of geotechnical Engineering the majority of finite element program users is familiar with the hyperbolic soil model. The input parameters are commonly obtained from a series of triaxial tests. For cohesionless soil ls however, today's sampling techniques fail to provide undisturbed soil specimen. Furthermore, routine triaxial tests can not be carried out on soils with grains exceeding 10 - 15 mm in size.

Elastic-Plastic Analysis Of Axisymmetrically Loaded Isotropic Circular And Annular Plates Undergoing Large Deflections, Aiman Raji Akileh

Dissertations and Theses

The concept of load analogy is used in the elastic and elastic-plastic analysis of isotropic circular and annular plates undergoing moderately large deflection. The effects of the nonlinear terms of lateral displacement and the plastic strains are considered as additional fictitious lateral loads, edge moments, and in-plane forces acting on the plate. The solution of an elastic or elastic-plastic Von Karman type plate is hence reduced to a set of two equivalent elastic plate problems with small displacements, namely, a plane problem in elasticity and a linear elastic plate bending problem. The method of finite element is employed to solve …

Analysis And Prediction Of The Water Temperature Of The Mckenzie River, Oregon Using The Equilibrium Temperature Approach, R. Peder Hansen

Dissertations and Theses

A one dimensional, steady flow, unsteady temperature model is used to evaluate the effects of two U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) dams and resulting reservoirs on hourly water temperatures of the mainstem McKenzie River from Delta Park (RM 62.1) to Leaburg Dam (RM 38.8). Both COE projects are on tributaries to the McKenzie River and at present have only bottom withdrawl capabilities.

Water temperatures were simulated using the equilibrium temperature approach with air temperature used to estimate equilibrium temperature and also using computed hourly equilibrium temperature. Results obtained using computed equilibrium temperatures were less satisfactory than results using air …

Post-Buckled Performance Of Partially Restrained And Intermediately Supported Steel Angles, Perumal Radhakrishnan

Dissertations and Theses

The post-buckled performance of cross-braced single angles was experimentally determined. The results of this study will be used by the Bonneville Power Administration for the analysis of member performance in transmission towers.

Forecasting For Local Water Management, Douglas Alan Putnam

Dissertations and Theses

Forecast models are investigated and developed for use in local water management to aid in determining short term water requirements and availability. The forecast models include precipitation occurrence and depth using a Markov chain model, temperature and solar radiation with a multivariate autoregressive model, and streamflow with autoregressive-moving average models. The precipitation, temperature, and solar radiation forecasts are used with a soil moisture model to determine water demands. A state space approach to the Muskingum-Cunge streamflow routing technique is developed. The forecast water demands and streamflow forecasts are used as inputs to this routing model. Forecast model errors and propagation …

The Applicability Of Microcomputers To Local Water Management, Roderick Lee Allen

Dissertations and Theses

Historically, hydrologic models have been available only on mainframe computers and have therefore not been used by local water managers to support daily decisions. The development of the microcomputer presents an opportunity for that to change.

Mathematical models of soil moisture and river routing are selected, developed and tested for use on a microcomputer as an aid to local water management. The models are then integrated with an appropriate data base in a computer program written for a microcomputer. The result is a Decision Support System for local water managers.

In order to evaluate the feasibility of using the Decision …

A Numerical Solution For Three Dimensional Beam Columns In The Elastic Region, Hamid Reza Afghan

Dissertations and Theses

The three differential equations describing the behavior of the beam columns in three dimensions are derived and presented in finite difference form. A computer model is developed to solve the simultaneous equations in the elastic regions and predict the member behavior.

The computer program is checked by comparing the results obtained from the program with data from other investigators, and classical analytical techniques.

State Space Approach To Flood Stage Estimation, Gregory Allen Jones

Dissertations and Theses

A flood routing and stage prediction model is developed using the techniques of State Space and Kalman filtering. The governing equation is the physically based hydrologic method of flood routing with the output being an optimal estimate of stage given known inputs of streamflow. These equations are developed in state space and the Kalman filter is employed to estimate the flow and river stage.

The model is applied to the Toutle and Cowlitz Rivers in the State of Washington, where the stage is affected by a shifting bed elevation. With the deterministic inputs at Mayfield Dam on the Cowlitz and …

Secondary Stresses In Bowstring Timber Trusses, John F. Bradford

Dissertations and Theses

This study was undertaken in order to determine analytically the magnitude of the secondary (i.e., joint deflection induced) moments in the continuous glued-laminated chords of bowstring timber trusses. Traditionally, these moments have been assumed to be small and therefore neglected. The American Institute of Timber Construction makes no mention of these moments in their recommended design procedure.

A Study Of Single Angle Compression Members, James Robert Callaway

Dissertations and Theses

A study was undertaken to investigate the compressive capacity of a specific group of single angle members.

A review of existing literature and techniques was presented. Laboratory compression tests were performed on 22 angle members of four different sizes and two different lengths. Additional tests were performed to determine the yield strength of the material. The results, normalized with respect to the yield stress, were tabulated and discussed.

Two existing analytic models were used to attempt to predict the ultimate capacity of the test members. The first, an elastic method, was based upon the AISC combined stress equation. The second, …

The Effect Of Residual Stress Distribution On The Ultimate Strength Of Tubular Beam-Columns, Steven L. Barrett

Dissertations and Theses

Using data for the longitudinal residual stress distribution in welded steel tubes, curves describing these distributions are selected for study. Each of these curves are checked for static balance across the tube cross section. The curves that exhibit an imbalance are adjusted by a combination of a simplified model for each and the use of a computer program that is developed to calculate the resulting forces and moments on the cross section. The residual stress in the area of the tube wall opposite the longitudinal weld is found to be the most important in the adjustment to obtain exact equilibrium. …

Photogrammetric Digitizing System, Frank Richard Gorshe

Dissertations and Theses

The acquisition of terrain data from aerial photography using digital photogrammetric methods gives the engineer and planner an economical alternative to conventional ground surveys. This paper describes a complete photogrammetric digitizing system developed for the Portland District Army Corps of Engineers. The hardware of the system consists of a

Wild AlO first order stereoplotter interfaced to an Altec AC-74 coordinate digitizer which is interfaced to both a Hewlett Packard 9810A programmable calculator and a Digi-Data nine-track magnetic tape recorder. The software of the system consists of photogrammetric routines developed for online computation by the programmable calculator and a sophisticated FORTRAN …

Response Of Orthotropic Bridge Decks To Highway Loadings, Harry Morris Rexin

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis documents the fabrication, testing techniques, and response of a plastic scale model of an orthotropic bridge deck. To economically investigate a two-lane steel bridge deck, plastic Acrylic^R was used as a modeling material. Welds were simulated with dichloromethane, a capillary action solvent, and PS-30, a polymerizable cement. Deflections were measured with laboratory dial guages while strains were monitored with strain guages mounted on the deck.

The response of the deck to AASHO vehicle axle loads was compared with a discrete element computer program used to analyze orthotropic bridge decks continuous over flexible supports. Results indicate good correlation …