Engineering Commons^™

Design And Analysis Of Flexible Insulated Pavement For Cold Region Applications, Zhuang Zhuo

Theses and Dissertations

Pavements in cold regions suffer from additional deterioration due to the influences of extreme climate on frost-susceptible subgrade layers. To address this problem, one efficient strategy is to add a thermal insulating layer above the frost-susceptible layer. This study aims to evaluate the insulating effects of four materials: XPS boards, tire chips, foamed glass aggregates, and foamed concrete. Large-scale insulated pavement boxes (1.2m×1.2m×0.8m) were constructed to compare the thermal performance of different materials. The thermal performance of each box was evaluated and graded based on indicators related to the short-term temperature decrease and long-term temperature variation.

Experimental results show that …

Unsupervised Learning For Anomaly Detection In Remote Sensing Imagery, Husam A. Alfergani

Theses and Dissertations

Landfill fire is a potential hazard of waste mismanagement, and could occur both on and below the surface of active and closed sites. Timely identification of temperature anomalies is critical in monitoring and detecting landfill fires, to issue warnings that can help extinguish fires at early stages. The overarching objective of this research is to demonstrate the applicability and advantages of remote sensing data, coupled with machine learning techniques, to identify landfill thermal states that can lead to fire, in the absence of onsite observations. This dissertation proposed unsupervised learning techniques, notably variational auto-encoders (VAEs), to identify temperature anomalies from …

Investigation Of Distracted Driving Events In New Jersey, Ahmed Sajid Hasan

Theses and Dissertations

Every year, thousands of people die in the United States due to crashes involving distracted driving, with this cause contributing to 25% of all fatal traffic crashes in New Jersey in particular. Over the past several years, various techniques (e.g., surveys, crash reports, videos, and simulations) were developed and implemented by the transportation safety community to identify and evaluate distracted driving events. However, these methods collect cross-sectional data on individual subjects and do not provide the actual number of distractions on the road. To fill this gap, this study collected longitudinal data on distracted driving events in the state of …

Laboratory And Full-Scale Pavement Sections Testing For Evaluating Frost Action In Cold Regions, Dorin Papuc

Theses and Dissertations

A comprehensive laboratory testing plan was conducted as part of this project to select two frost-susceptible soils for use in constructing three full-scale test strips. A total of 16 soils were obtained from various suppliers in NJ and were evaluated to determine their frost-susceptibility. The evaluation included conducting sieve analysis, hydrometer analysis, and specific gravity. Using these measures, two soils were selected (namely, Soil #2 and Soil #13) for constructing the test strips. The properties (Atterberg Limits, moisture-density relationships, California bearing ratio (CBR), Resilient Modulus among others) were determined through a laboratory testing plan. In addition, this study involved constructing …

A Laboratory Investigation Of High Polymer Modified Asphalt Mixtures With Softening Agent, Basel K. Al-Badr

Theses and Dissertations

This study was initiated to evaluate the impact of aging and High Polymer Modified Asphalt (HPMA) binders containing a bio-based-oil softening agent (SA) on the rutting, cracking, and durability of asphalt mixtures. One control asphalt binder (PG 52-34), Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene (SBS) polymer modifier, and corn-oil SA were used to produce four asphalt mixtures including a control prepared using PG 52-34 binder and three modified mixtures were produced by blending PG 52-34 binder with different dosages of SBS and SA. The mixtures were tested using the Dynamic Complex Modulus (|E*|), Hamburg Wheel Tracking Device (HWTD), Flow Number (FN), Indirect Tension Cracking Test …

An Evaluation Of Electrically Conductive Asphalt Mixtures For Electrically Heated Flexible Pavement Systems, Rahaf Hasan

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study is to develop Electrically Conductive Asphalt (ECA) mixtures with optimized electrical and mechanical properties for use in electrically heated asphalt pavements for anti-icing applications. Laboratory experiments were carried out to design ECA mixtures at varying dosages, using three graphite grades of different particle sizes, one virgin aggregate type, two binder grades, and one carbon fiber. The impact of graphite dosage and particle size on the volumetric properties and electrical resistivity of asphalt mixtures was assessed. Different factors with potential impact on the electrical properties were investigated, including the graphite particle size and dosage, the air …

Investigation Of The Load-Induced Cracking And Rutting Performance Of Specialty Hot Mix Asphalt Overlay Mixtures, Andrae Anthony Francois

Theses and Dissertations

This study was initiated with the aim of investigating the cracking performance, rutting performance, and cost effectiveness of specialty and composite HMA mixtures utilized in New Jersey to rehabilitate deteriorated rigid pavements. As such, four, plant-produced, specialty HMA overlay mixtures currently used in New Jersey were evaluated in this study. These overlay mixtures included: a dense-graded, 9.5-SP mixture, a gap-graded, 12.5-SMA mixture, a dense graded, 4.75-HPTO mixture, and a uniformly graded, 4.75-BRIC mixture. The 9.5-SP, 12.5-SMA, and 4.75-HPTO mixtures were produced using PG 76-22 binder while the 4.75-BRIC was contained a PG 70-28 binder. The laboratory cracking and rutting performance …

Development Of A Hurricane Recovery Function And Resilience Model For Single-Family Residential Homes, Uriel Robert Donald Clark

Theses and Dissertations

The resilience of communities, infrastructure, and the environment in the face of hurricanes has increasingly become of public interest in the wake of recent natural disasters and environmental activism. Previous methodologies have attempted to quantify resilience for various structures and scenarios. Many studies have primarily investigated the robustness of critical infrastructure (e.g., bridges, emergency facilities, and water systems) which are essential to the function of a community. However, few studies have applied this approach to individual residential buildings. Therefore, this research aimed to adapt the most recent recovery functions developed for residential homes by considering measurable factors that are known …