Engineering Commons^™

Determining Rockfall Volumes In Three Sites Along Habs Mountain Road In Southwestern Saudi Arabia, Using Lidar Technology, Abdullah Ayed Al-Otaibi

Masters Theses

"The rugged elevated topography is a characteristic feature of the western and southwestern regions of Saudi Arabia. Few arterial roads connect the scattered villages of these regions to major cities, such as Habs Road in Jazan region. Rock fall poses a serious hazard to people, property and animals along the rock cuts of this road. Although no traditional Rockfall studies have previously been applied to this road, accessibility and rock formation shape and structure variability influenced the choice of using Terrestrial Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) technology to calculate the volume of rockfall at selected sites along this road.

Software …

Characterizing The Influence Of Carbon On The Flowrate And Disinfection Efficacy Of Household Ceramic Water Filters, Jessie Yvonne Hahn

Masters Theses

"Drinking water contamination is a major cause of disease in developing countries. Point of Use (POU) water treatment technologies generally have low initial cost and allow rapid availability of improved water. Ceramic pot filters (CPFs) are a POU water source treatment technology which filter water by gravity through a porous ceramic media. Some filters in use contain carbon remnants left from the fugitive pore former as a dark carbon core. Using disk-shaped experimental ceramic filters produced in the lab to have varying levels of carbon, the percent carbon present was measured and a visual analysis method was developed to determine …

Imaging Beneath Standing Bodies Of Water In Karst Terrain, Abdulrahman Masfer Alotaibi

Doctoral Dissertations

"Side scan sonar and down scan sonar, sub bottom profiling, electrical resistivity tomography profiling (underwater cables), and continuous resistivity profiling (towed cable) surveys were conducted to characterize the lake sediments (rock and soil) beneath the man-made Little Prairie Lake, in central Missouri. Sub bottom profiling and electrical resistivity (with marine cables and towed cable) were used to determine variability in the lithology and thickness of sediments (soil and rock) beneath the lake, while side scan sonar was used to map the variations in the lithology/nature of exposed lakebed sediments and to locate the potential hazard of trees. Down scan sonar …

Advanced Approaches For Bridge Deck Assessment Using Ground Penetrating Radar, Aleksey Kamilevich Khamzin

Doctoral Dissertations

"Ground penetrating radar (GPR) data were acquired across four bridge decks with the objective of developing an advanced workflow for GPR operation that would allow the bridge owners to estimate repair quantities for certain bridge decks, based on GPR data. The primary contributions from this research are as follows: 1. It was demonstrated that the conditions of bridge decks can be cost-effectively and efficiently assessed using the GPR tool. 2. The GPR tool's ability to provide rapid and reliable results in comparison with conventional bridge deck condition assessment techniques was established. 3. The qualitative and quantitative relationships between the GPR …

A New Technique For Modeling The Geomorphology Of A Slow Moving, Soft-Slope Landslide Using Terrestrial Lidar, Nathan Bradley Rohrbaugh

Masters Theses

"Soft slope movement is a big problem whether it involves an engineered slope, one that is near infrastructure, or both. Active landslides that fail slowly sometimes allow ample time to affect remedial works. In order to plan effective remedial works, there needs to be a model of the entire geometry of the slide. This thesis describes a new approach to evaluate the morphology of slope geometry using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data obtained from simple targets strategically positioned on a slide body. The data was gathered in three-month intervals over a period of one year to allow enough time …

Development Of A Stochastic Model For Performance Characterization Of A Pv/Vrb Microgrid, Kayla M. Speidel

Masters Theses

"Photovoltaic (PV) Microgrids have been proven to be a useful technology in providing an environmentally friendly source of energy when compared to the use of fossil fuels. Accurately characterizing the performance of a microgrid system would ensure that the system is appropriately sized to meet electrical loads without a heavy reliance on diesel generators. A microgrid that is sized properly will reduce the cost of diesel fuel, while also reducing the risk of wasting money on an oversized system. A deterministic model which was created to characterize the performance of PV microgrids based on percent of time generator running was …

Optimum Acquisition And Processing Parameters For Multichannel Analysis Of Surface Waves Using 3d Electrical Resistivity Tomography As Control, Uchenna Chibuzo Nwafor

Masters Theses

"Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) and Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) data were acquired in the Newburg, Missouri with the goal of determining optimum MASW acquisition parameters. Users of the MASW tool generally state that greater geophone intervals and greater shot-to-receiver offsets provide for more accurate results. The objective was to determine if this "rule of thumb" applies in karst terrain.

ERT data were acquired along four traverses with eighty-four (84) electrodes at five feet spacing with SuperSting R8 Resistivity System using dipole- dipole array. The data were processed using Earth Imager to generate 2-D resistivity inversion and thereafter, Voxler …

Microstructure And Geotechnical Properties Of St. Peter Sandstone In Clayton, Iowa, Amir Hossein Bagherieh

Doctoral Dissertations

"The St. Peter Sandstone is significantly different from the minerals and rocks which have been studied extensively in mining. It is brittle and characterized by an unusually high friction angle. On the other hand it is friable, and it is nearly cohesionless. The scarcity of the ground control techniques for this particular mining environment has created many difficulties for mine operators. This research aims to establish a fundamental understanding of the basic mechanical and strength properties of the St. Peter Sandstone for engineering design and scientific research. The specific objectives are 1) characterizing the strength of the St. Peter Sandstone, …

Non-Invasive Imaging And Assessment Of Pavements, Adel Mohamed Elkrry

Doctoral Dissertations

"Eight electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and multi-channel analysis of surface wave (MASW) case studies are presented. The objective is to assess the condition of pavement, base, native soil, and rock all the way down to the top of the bedrock. Each segment of road way is approximately 1000 ft. long. The cases include US 63 north of Rolla, US 54 in Camden County, Rte. 179 in Jefferson City, HWY AT in Franklin County, I-55 in Pemiscot County, I-55 in Perry County, HWY U in Dent County, I-35 in Daviess County. In addition, there are only three types of pavement in …

Non-Destructive And Destructive Bridge Deck Condition Assessment, Aleksandra V. Varnavina

Doctoral Dissertations

"The dissertation is composed of three papers, which cover the lack of information on the specific aspects of non-destructive and destructive bridge deck assessment.

In the first paper, appropriate data acquisition and processing parameters for concrete bridge deck condition assessment using ground-coupled ground penetrating radar are developed. The use of proposed parameters helps to significantly reduce acquisition and processing time, while providing engineers with reliable and detailed information on the condition of bridge deck.

In the second paper, a novel approach to develop relationship between GPR data and concrete removal depth measurements collected after hydrodemolition is proposed. A linear relationship …