Engineering Commons^™

16-11 Microsimulation Of The Impact Of Access Management Practices To Pedestrians, Deo Chimba, Kevin Soloka

Transportation Research Center Reports

The study applied microsimulation to analyze the impact of access management (AM) to the operational performances of vehicles and pedestrians. A conceptual model was developed in VISSIM and VISWALK to examine the effect of access and signals density on different median types to the travel speed, travel time, delay and stopping. Access density, signal density, and presence of median were simulated in a scenario base analysis. The model scenarios shifted through changing both access density and signal density with no median, raised median and TWLT lane to provide interactions of arterial corridors in Nashville. The effect of access density on …

16-02 Enhancing Non-Motorized Mobility Within Construction Zones, Upul Attanayake, Abul Fazal Mazumder, Wjdan Dhaif Sahi Sahi, Mathew Mueller, Dustin Black

Transportation Research Center Reports

Acquisition of lanes and sidewalks for construction activities increases congestion and delays and compromises safety. Further, work zones impair access to local businesses, bus stops, nearby facilities, etc., while hindering mobility of pedestrians, cyclists, and emergency responders. The emphasis on non-motorized mobility varies significantly when temporary traffic control management plans are developed for small cities. Due to lack of specific instructions given to contractors and the potential liability issues, contractors tend to completely close access to non-motorized traffic without providing alternate routes or detours. Instead of using a detour, pedestrians and cyclists tend to pass through the construction zone or …

Integrated Assessment Of Shallow-Aquifer Vulnerability To Multiple Contaminants And Drinking-Water Exposure Pathways In Holliston, Massachusetts, Birgit Claus Henn, Yelena Ogneva-Himmelberger, Allegra Denehy, Marcie Randall, Nichole Cordon, Bilin Basu, Brian Caccavale, Stefanie Covino, Ravi Hanumantha, Kevin Longo, Ariel Maiorano, Spring Pillsbury, Gabrielle Rigutto, Kelsey Shields, Marianne Sarkis, Timothy Downs

Sustainability and Social Justice

Half of U.S. drinking water comes from aquifers, and very shallow ones (table) are especially vulnerable to anthropogenic contamination. We present the case of Holliston, a Boston, Massachusetts suburb that draws its drinking water from very shallow aquifers, and where metals and solvents have been reported in groundwater. Community concerns focus on water discolored by naturally occurring manganese (Mn), despite reports stating regulatory aesthetic compliance. Epidemiologic studies suggest Mn is a potentially toxic element (PTE) for children exposed by the drinking-water pathway at levels near the regulatory aesthetic level. We designed an integrated, community-based project: five sites were profiled for …

Microfluidic Pore Model Study On Physical And Geomechanical Factors Influencing Fluid Flow Behavior In Porous Media, Shuang Cao

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Fluid flow in porous media is a subject of fundamental importance and relevant to numerous engineering applications. The comprehensive description of fluid interaction parameters containing wetting properties, fluid-fluid displacement ratio, and capillary pressure, are inevitably needed. Moreover, the fine-grained sediments’ response to various pore fluids and migration in porous media influences reservoir geomechanical properties and pore clogging is essential to a better understanding of fluids flow behavior.

This dissertation provides a detailed study of physical and geomechanical factors influencing fluids flow behavior in porous media. The two-dimensional micromodel tests have been conducted under a wide selection of fluids flow conditions. …

Agenda For The Fifth Meeting Of The Forum On Soil Dynamics, Shamsher Prakash

Forum for Promotion of Soil Dynamics in India

No abstract provided.

Membership Of Forum For Promotion Of Soil Dynamics In India, Shamsher Prakash

Forum for Promotion of Soil Dynamics in India

No abstract provided.

Minutes Of The Fifth Meeting Of The Forum For Promotion Of Soil Dynamics In India, Shamsher Prakash

Forum for Promotion of Soil Dynamics in India

No abstract provided.

Prediction Of Average Annual Surface Temperature For Both Flexible And Rigid Pavements, Karthikeyan Loganathan, Mena I. Souliman

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The surface temperature of pavements is a critical attribute during pavement design. Surface temperature must be measured at locations of interest based on time-consuming field tests. The key idea of this study is to develop a temperature profile model to predict the surface temperature of flexible and rigid pavements based on weather parameters. Determination of surface temperature with traditional techniques and sensors are replaced by a newly developed method. The method includes the development of a regression model to predict the average annual surface temperature based on weather parameters such as ambient air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and precipitation. …

Highly Vented Truss Wall Honeycomb Structures, David J. Sypeck

Publications

A vented honeycomb structure with a plurality of honey­comb cells arranged in a hierarchical order and having a plurality of truss walls, each truss wall including a plurality of members. The vented honeycomb structure is fabricated by joining a plurality of sheets of trusses using any one of an expansion, a corrugation, and a slotting process. Fabri­cation can also occur by deposition, casting, additive, extru­sion, or aligning and joining methods. The honeycomb cells, truss walls, truss wall openings, and truss wall members can be functionally graded.

Adaption Of Catechol And Reversible Addition-Fragmentation Chain-Transfer (Raft) Chemistries For Water-Based Applications, Olabode Oyeneye

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Incorporating the binding chemistry of catechol functionality with RAFT chemistry offers a facile and simplified approach for developing a suite of new 2D and 3D hybrid materials with tailored morphologies. Leveraging both chemistries by synthesizing catechol-end functionalized RAFT agents and catechol-containing monomeric species for RAFT (co)polymerization, this dissertation examined a new series of advanced materials that were designed for water-based applications including model flocculants, thermoresponsive hydrogels, adsorbents and underwater adhesives.

To prepare the RAFT agents, novel trithiocarbonates with several catechol end R groups (as postpolymerization anchors) were synthesized that differ in their carbonyl α-substituents (Dopa-CTAs). These materials were evaluated for …

Spatial Transferability Assessment Of A Composite Walkability Index: The Pedestrian Index Of The Environment (Pie), Gabriel Lefebvre-Ropars, Catherine Morency, Patrick A. Singleton, Kelly J. Clifton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper analyzes the transferability of a composite walkability index, the Pedestrian Index of the Environment (PIE), to the Greater Montréal Area (GMA). The PIE was developed in Portland, Oregon, and is based on proprietary data. It combines six urban form variables into a score ranging from 20 to 100. The measure introduces several methodological refinements which have not been applied concurrently in previous efforts: a wide coverage of the different dimensions of the urban form, together with the use of a distance-based decay function and modelling-based weighing of the variables.

Moving Bed Biofilm Reactors: Evaluation Of Geometry, Attachment Surface Material And Biofilm Populations On The Uptake Of Ammonia And Synthetic Organic Contaminants In Wastewater., Patrick D. Mclee

Civil Engineering ETDs

Plastic biofilm carriers are used in biological wastewater treatment to encourage the attachment and retention of microorganisms that metabolize pollutants. The following research was conducted to better understand how different characteristics of the biofilm carrier affect the treatment performance of the attached biofilms in moving bed bioreactors. Lab scale reactors were used in this study to grow nitrifying biofilms in reactors with contrasting and controlled conditions. The effect of surface geometry on nitrification performance was evaluated by testing commercially available moving bed bioreactor media that contrast in physical design, and by varying operational parameters. Additionally, mature biofilm from a similar …

Quantifying The Effect Of Construction Site Factors On Concrete Quality, Costs And Production Rates, Jorge L. Santamaria

Civil Engineering ETDs

Factors affecting concrete can be categorized as structured factors or unstructured factors. The first group of factors consists of those related to the production process of concrete including water-cement ratio, properties of raw materials and mix proportions. Unstructured factors or construction site factors are related to labor skills and local conditions during the construction process of a project. Concrete compressive strength as a quality metric, costs and production rates may be affected significantly by such factors while performing concrete operations at the jobsite. Several prior studies have investigated the effect of structured factors on concrete. However literature is limited regarding …

A Performance Based Design Approach For Tall Buildings Under Wind Loading, Fouad Y. Elezaby

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The wind design of buildings is typically based on strength provisions under ultimate loads. This is unlike the ductility-based approach used in seismic design, which allows inelastic actions to take place in the structure under extreme seismic events. This research investigates the application of a similar concept in wind engineering. In seismic design, the elastic forces resulting from an extreme event of high return period are reduced by a load reduction factor. A load reduction factor is chosen by the designer and accordingly a certain ductility capacity needs to be achieved in the structure. Two reasons have triggered the investigation …

Assessment Of Dynamic Effect Of Transmission Line Conductor Longitudinal Reaction Due To Downburst Loading, Ibrahim Ibrahim

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Due to the locality and non-stationary nature of downburst wind loading events, their effect on the structural response of transmission line structures is of special nature that differs from conventional atmospheric boundary layer wind loading. Acknowledging such difference, the current thesis aims to quantify the dynamic effect associated with downburst loading on transmission line systems. To achieve that, several steps had to be realized, including experimentally verifying the numerical model used for analysis using wind field that was generated using computational fluid dynamics. The verified model was extended from model scale to full scale, where the wind field used for …

A Novel Concrete-Based Sensor For Detection Of Ice And Water On Roads And Bridges, Habib Tabatabai, Mohammed Aljuboori

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Articles

Hundreds of people are killed or injured annually in the United States in accidents related to ice formation on roadways and bridge decks. In this paper, a novel embedded sensor system is proposed for the detection of black ice as well as wet, dry and frozen pavement conditions on roads, runways, and bridges. The proposed sensor works by detecting changes in electrical resistance between two sets of stainless steel poles embedded in the concrete sensor to assess surface and near-surface conditions. A preliminary decision algorithm is developed that utilizes sensor outputs indicating resistance changes and surface temperature. The sensor consists …

Development Of Design Equations For Drilled Shafts In Granular Dense Soils Using Dem Simulations, Sadia Faiza

Civil Engineering ETDs

Drilled shafts have proven to be cost-effective, excellent performing, deep foundation systems where large loads and lateral resistance are major factors. The available design methods that are recommended by FHWA (2010) for drilled shafts are mostly empirical and are developed based on generalized data which sometimes can be conservative for a particular soil. The main objective of this study is to develop a design methodology for estimating the side resistance of an axially loaded drilled shaft based on the current and the unique properties of the soil. The objective was met through using the discrete element method (DEM) to investigate …

Characterization And Modeling Of Asphalt Concrete For Dynamic Properties And Performances, A S M A. Rahman

Civil Engineering ETDs

The recently developed mechanistic-empirical pavement design guide (MEPDG, also known as Pavement M-E design method) uses the nationally calibrated, binder viscosity-based dynamic modulus predictive model for the design and analysis of asphalt pavements. In this study, this model is assessed for its appropriateness for asphalt-aggregate mixtures typically used in New Mexico. In essence, this study investigates the predictability issue of complex modulus of New Mexico mixes. A total of 54 Superpave mixes with different aggregate gradations, air voids, and binder grades were collected from the mixing plants and from the pavement construction sites. The loose asphalt mixtures were then compacted, …

Coupling Of Oxidation-Reduction Reactions Of Chromium, Iron And Manganese: Implications For The Fate And Mobility Of Chromium In Aquatic Environments, Chao Pan

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Both within the United States and internationally, hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) is a contaminant of concern in drinking water supplies. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering a Cr(VI)-specific standard. Thus improved technologies for Cr(VI) removal in drinking water are needed. Iron electrocoagulation for Cr(VI) removal was examined at conditions directly relevant to drinking water treatment, and humic acid (HA) affects the performance of electrocoagulation in multiple ways. The success of the chromium treatment or remediation also relies on the stability of the Cr(III)-containing solids with respect to reoxidation under groundwater conditions. Manganese is ubiquitous in aquatic and terrestrial environments, and …

Multi-Scale Studies To Develop A Holistic Understanding Of Solid Fuel Combustion At Residential Scale, Sameer Patel

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Nearly 3 billion people rely on solid fuels for their cooking and heating needs, classifying them as “energy poor”. This poverty can be attributed to several factors, including a lack of resources (fuel), inefficient infrastructure (production and distribution), limited purchasing power (poverty), and ill-devised policies. Solid fuels, such as biomass, coal, and dung cakes, are burned in inefficient cookstoves. They generate products of incomplete combustion (PIC), such as CO, particulate matter (PM), and CH4, causing household air pollution (HAP) whose adverse impacts on both health and the environment have been well established.

HAP causes diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary …

Fabrication And Modification Of Titania Nanotube Arrays For Harvesting Solar Energy And Drug Delivery Applications, Ahmed El Ruby Abdel Rahman Mohamed

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The fast diminishing of fossil fuels in the near future, as well as the global warming caused by increasing greenhouse gases have motivated the urgent quest to develop advanced materials as cost-effective photoanodes for solar light harvesting and many other photocatalytic applications. Recently, titania nanotube arrays (TNTAs) fabricated by anodization process has attracted great interest due to their excellent properties such as: high surface area, vertically oriented, highly organized, one-dimensional, nanotubular structure, photoactivity, chemical stability and biocompatibility. This unique combination of excellent properties makes TNTAs an excellent photoanode for solar light harvesting. However, the relatively wide band gap energy of …

Modelling Of Future Flood Risk Across Canada Under Climate Change, Ayushi Gaur

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Climate change has induced changes in key climate variables and hydrological cycle in Canada. In this study, future runoff projections made by 21 GCMs following four Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) are used as inputs into a macro-scaled hydrodynamic model: CaMa-Flood to simulate 25 km resolution daily streamflow across Canada for historical (1961-2005) and future (2061-2100) time-periods. Future changes in flood-hazard as a consequence of changes in flooding frequencies of historical 100-year and 250-year return period flood events, and changes in the month of occurrence of extreme flows are analyzed. Changes in flood risk at Canada’s 100 most populous cities and …

Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Analysis Of Evaporation From Unsaturated Soils, Seyed Morteza Mousavi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

ABSTRACT

Estimating evaporation from unsaturated soil is important for many applications including agriculture, climate, hydrology, water resources, saturated and unsaturated groundwater flow, slope stability, and soil covers. As an example, the long term performance of soil covers, which are widely used in mining and landfill applications to protect the environment, strongly depends on evaporation from their surfaces.

Evaporation depends on both moisture flow within an unsaturated soil mass, which is generally coupled with heat flow, and void ratio and hydraulic and air conductivities, which are in turn affected by stress and strain and resulting soil settlement. This makes thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) …

Drone-Enabled Remote Sensing For Transportation Infrastructure Assessment, Colin Brooks

INSPIRE Archived Webinars

Unmanned aerial systems (UAS or “drones”) are a rapidly developing technology that can help meet the needs of transportation agencies for reliable, repeatable data that can save money and increase safety for the data collection process. By taking advantage of flexible platforms that can deploy a variety of sensors, transportation agencies and their information suppliers can help meet these data needs for operations, asset management, and other areas. Location-specific data on infrastructure condition and distresses can help with improved management of assets.

In this presentation, recent applied research led by a Michigan Technological University team is reviewed, with a focus …

Development Of The New Educational Content "Small Uas In Civil Engineering Application Scenarios", E. Levin, K. Vach, R. Shults

Michigan Tech Publications

The key point of this paper is presentation of the main idea and some results of the project "Small UAS in civil engineering application scenarios" (SUAS-CAS). This project was proposed by newly established in 2016 ISPRS WG V/7: "Innovative Technologies in Training Civil Engineers and Architects". Here we are presenting our experience in using low-cost UAS in training architects at Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture, which was chosen as basic for this project. In the first part of paper, the project outline is presented. Then the first and possible follow project outcomes were described. In some details is …

Structural Behavior Of Lap Shear Connections With Thermally Insulating Filler Plates, Salih Qasim Mahmood

Dissertations and Theses

This research consists of experimental load tests and numerical simulations of structural steel connections with various filler materials to study the effect of non-steel fillers on the connection strength. Non-steel fillers are used in the steel connections to provide thermal insulation by reducing thermal bridging. Eight specimens having steel and polypropylene filler plates of various thicknesses were tested in the laboratory. The collected data were compared to a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) using ABAQUS to validate the numerical results. After validation, three parametric studies were conducted using ABAQUS to provide insight into general behavior of connections with a variety of …

Dynamic Façades Towards Greener Energy Efficient Buildings, Rayce Martin, Iraj Mamaghani, Nikoloas Nikitas

Essential Studies UNDergraduate Showcase

Mitigating global climate change is a major contemporary topic of research and is of major interest to today’s societies. Developed countries the top contributors to the destruction of the climate with buildings in these countries being one of the reasons. Buildings in developed countries account for 20-40% of the total primary energy consumption. This high-energy consumption produces approximately 36% of the total CO2 emissions since fossil-fuels are the primary source of energy in almost all developed countries. To combat this, researchers have investigated wind energy harvesting technologies that produce electricity while also being considered “green”, or low carbon dioxide emitters. …

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Fall 2017, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition Projects

Part of every UNLV engineering student’s academic experience, the senior design project stimulates engineering innovation and entrepreneurship. Each student in their senior year chooses, plans, designs, and prototypes a product in this required element of the curriculum. A capstone to the student’s educational career, the senior design project encourages the student to use everything learned in the engineering program to create a practical, real world solution to an engineering challenge. The senior design competition helps focus the senior students in increasing the quality and potential for commercial application for their design projects. Judges from local industry evaluate the projects on …

Multi-Hazard Performance Assessment Of High-Rise Buildings, Jad El Khoury Antoun

LSU Master's Theses

In the last few decades, there has been an important increase in building high-rise constructions in many cities around the world. Since they offer several benefits in populous areas in terms of space efficiency, economy and sustainability, tower buildings attracted practitioners and researchers to understand better their exclusive behavior and response to natural hazards (e.g., hurricanes, earthquakes). Because of their flexibility and their commonly limited damping, skyscrapers are more susceptible to wind and earthquake actions than low- and mid-rise buildings. Moreover, many locations are prone to multiple hazards; hence, it is important to understand thoroughly the structural behavior of structures …

Application Of Real Field Connected Vehicle Data For Aggressive Driving Identification On Horizontal Curves, Arash Jahangiri, Vincent Berardi, Sahar Ghanipoor Machiani

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The emerging technology of connected vehicles generates a vast amount of data that could be used to enhance roadway safety. In this paper, we focused on safety applications of a real field connected vehicle data on a horizontal curve. The database contains connected vehicle data that were collected on public roads in Ann Arbor, Michigan with instrumented vehicles. Horizontal curve negotiations are associated with a great number of accidents, which are mainly attributed to driving errors. Aggressive/risky driving is a contributing factor to the high rate of crashes on horizontal curves. Using basic safety message data in connected vehicle data …