Engineering Commons^™

Simulating Truck Lane Management Approaches To Improve Efficiency And Safety Of Highways In Knoxville, Tennessee, Adebola Adebisi Adelakum

Masters Theses

Increased globalization has caused large increases in truck traffic on the nation’s interstate system, with much additional growth expected in the coming years. This growth has elevated interest in developing new strategies to address rising levels of truck traffic, especially in dense and congested urban areas. This thesis focuses on the evaluation of several alternative lane management configurations as they compare to the current lane configuration in search of the best fit for operational improvement. This task was performed in two ways – survey and simulation. A survey of 500 long-haul truck drivers was administered in Knoxville, Tennessee, at the …

New Consolidation Of Emission And Processing For Air Quality Modeling Assessment In Asia, Yuan Du

Masters Theses

Gridded Asian emission input with fine resolutions for regional photochemical air quality modeling is absent from current studies. A new top-down emission process based on GIS-FORTRAN program has been developed in this study to consolidate the current available regional emissions in Asia and provide model-ready emission input with more flexibility. The INTEX-B anthropogenic emission inventory in 2006 integrated with biogenic from GEIA, as well as biomass burning and ship emissions from TRACE-P has been adopted as the top-level emissions, which are then spatially allocated into grid-cell level by our GIS application. The spatial allocation factors generated for this process are …

Evaluation Of Experimental Bridges In Tennessee, David P. Chapman

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation presents an overview and evaluation of an effort of the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) to design multispan steel girder bridges that can be erected with minimal disruption to traffic passing under the proposed spans. TDOT has developed the Pier-Plate Moment Connection in order to facilitate the accelerated construction of steel girder bridges. This connection allows the girders of a multispan steel bridge to be erected as simple spans and then to be made continuous prior to the dead load of the deck being applied. Since 2003, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of …

Effectiveness Of Stop Sign Installations At Highway-Railroad Grade Crossings: An Evaluation Of Installation Safety Performance, Harold Lynn Millegan

Doctoral Dissertations

The safety benefit of Stop-sign treatment employed at passive highway rail crossings has been a subject of research for many years. The objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness and impacts of Stop-sign treatment on crossing safety. This research addresses safety at public highway-railroad grade crossings across the United States within a 26-year period of accident history for Crossbucks-only controlled crossings that were upgraded to Stop-sign control.

This study utilized Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) accident data to investigate average accident frequency at crossings with the two different types of passive-crossing sign controls. The research database was created by …

Long-Term Trends In Water Quality For A High-Elevation Stream In The Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Impacts Of Acid Deposition, Angela Vanessa Smith

Masters Theses

In the Southern Appalachians, high-elevation streams with small watershed areas tend to be sensitive to acid deposition (Deviney et al., 2006; Cook et al., 1994) because high elevations tend to have more cloud contact, leading to greater atmospheric deposition of pollutants containing sulfate and nitrate acids (Lovett and Kinsman 1990). In a recent study by Webb et al. (2004) examined the link between atmospheric acid deposition and stream water quality in brook trout (Salvelinus Fontinalis) streams in western Virginia and Shenandoah National Park (SNP). The study acknowledged that water quality improvement had been seen in response …

Evaluation Of A New Method To Estimate The Micropore Volume And External Surface Area Of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes, Yijing Zheng

Masters Theses

Since the discovery of carbon nanotubes in 1991, significant progress has been made to understand their electrical, mechanical, magnetic and optical properties. However, as the ideal adsorbent for adsorption of gases and vapors, nanotubes, especially the single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), and their adsorption properties remain not been investigated enough. The unique microporous structure of SWNTs gives them remarkable adsorption properties, i.e. surface area and porosity. Several methods exist to determine the surface area and pore volume of adsorbents: t-plot method, Dubinin-Radushkevich (DR) method, and Dubinin-Astakhov (DA) method. The results are usually specific to a certain method and to the segment …

Design And Analysis Of Steel Plate Shear Walls, Rebecca A. Lind

Masters Theses

Steel plate shear walls are investigated as a lateral load resisting system with particular interest towards seismic loads. Past physical testing is studied in order to determine trends in failure modes and design considerations. Analysis is conducted on data from two, large scale, steel plate shear walls that were tested under quasi-static loading. The investigation includes energy dissipation, axial forces in members, bending moment, curvature, infill stresses, and shear distribution. Recommendations are made for future projects.

Use Of The Annagnps Pollutant Loading Model For Prediction Of Sediment Yields In A Mountainous Cumberland Plateau Region: Correlations With The Stream Bed Sediment Characteristics, Michael Patrick Massey

Masters Theses

This study attempts to develop a relationship with the hillslope sediment yield (estimated from a computer model) and the deposited sediment particle size characteristics within stream channels. By using specific hydrological parameters within a watershed, a calibrated Annualized Agricultural Non-Point Source (AnnAGNPS) pollutant loading model was created for four different sub-watersheds in the mountainous New River Basin of eastern Tennessee. The AnnAGNPS pollutant loading model predicted daily runoff and sediment yield reasonably well, but it poorly predicted daily peak flow rate for most sub-watersheds analyzed in the New River Basin. Overall, the AnnAGNPS pollutant loading model provided satisfactory results in …

University Of Tennessee, Knoxville Multi-Hazard Mitigation Disaster Resistant University Plan, Kelli D. Taylor

Masters Theses

The purpose of creating this Multi-Hazard Mitigation Disaster Resistant University Plan is to meet the requirements of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. This hazard mitigation plan documents the process of creating a plan for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, including identifying hazards and risks associated with UTK and identifying a hazard mitigation strategy specific to UTK that will lessen the campus’ vulnerability and make it more resistant to disaster and more sustainable. This plan identifies goals for hazard mitigation and risk reduction of natural and man-made hazards to UTK’s campus by following the planning guidelines and requirements as included …

Numerical Analysis Of Piling Framed Tie-Down Concrete Retaining Wall, Eli L. Branch Iv

Masters Theses

The behavior of a novel pile framed retaining wall developed by the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) is investigated using a 2D non-linear finite element (FE) analysis for. The wall design eliminates the need for a construction right of way behind the wall; thus it is ideal for urban areas. The design concept consists of vertical and battered H pile sections as the structural frame, and a concrete facing that is installed as the soil is excavated during top-down construction. Vertical tie-down anchors and a concrete cap and facing are used to counteract overturning moments. A 2-D FE analysis of …

Resilient Modulus And Strength Index Properties Of Stabilized Base For Tennessee Highways, Wesley M. Macdonald

Masters Theses

Typical material used by the Tennessee Department of Transportation for highway bases was evaluated for application to the new Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide. Two types of granular Tennessee highway base material were mixed with different stabilizers and tested in the lab according to AASHTO T-307 99 (2003). Unconfined Compressive Strength and California Bearing Ratio tests were also done in an effort to correlate these results with resilient modulus. Three different combinations of base and stabilizer were tested and modeling coefficients were produced. Base structural layer coefficients were generated and compared to coefficients currently in use by TDOT.

Comparing In Situ Submerged Jet Test Device And Laboratory Flume Methods To Estimate Erosional Properties Of Cohesive Soils For Bank Stability Models, Tara Liyana Mallison

Masters Theses

In order to accurately predict the stability of riverbanks, model input parameters must be reliable bank failure estimators. Currently, bank stability models require two input parameters to predict bank erosion: critical erosion shear stress and erodibility coefficient. The investigation’s purpose was to compare two erosion estimation methods and improve the bank stability models for cohesive soil commonly found on the banks.

To accomplish the objective, critical shear stresses and erodibility coefficients obtained using the in situ submerged jet test device (SJT) were measured against results from the closed-loop laboratory flume method for 12 cohesive bank sites. Additionally, SJT critical shear …

Effect Of Combined Loading And Low-Temperature On The Stiffness Of Gfrp Laminates, Curtis Patrick Nordin

Masters Theses

At the present time a large portion of America’s bridge infrastructure is aging, and in many cases approaching its design live. Therefore, there is a need for structurally sound, low-maintenance, and rapidly constructible alternatives for conventional materials. Due to this need there has been a renewed interest in structural glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) products. A large portion of the US is regularly subjected to freezing temperatures and therefore the numerous gaps in our knowledge and understanding of the low-temperature response of GFRP materials need to be addressed. Although strides have been made in researching the cold climate responses of …