Engineering Commons^™

Evaluations Of Frp Composite Coupons Under Impact And Puncture, Lekhnath Bhandari

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Evaluations of FRP Composite Coupons Under Impact and Puncture

Lekhnath Bhandari

Railroad tank cars are the main mode of transportation for carrying flammable liquids and other hazardous materials, in any mode of ground transportation system. These tank cars, if punctured during derailments may explode releasing large amounts of hazardous materials and posing serious threats to human life and leading to economic losses. To minimize such catastrophes, in 2015, United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) proposed to improve the thermal and puncture performances of these tank cars and introduced two new design specifications: DOT-117 and DOT-117R. Tank cars with 9/16 inches …

A Comparative Analysis Of Coastdown Testing Methods From An Electric Drive Unit Engagement Perspective Using A Student-Designed Parallel Hybrid Electric Vehicle, Dawson Everett Dunnuck

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Coastdown testing and road load determination are pivotal parts of the automotive design process. Vehicle manufacturers and independent companies perform and analyze road loads determined through a coastdown or similar method to determine a vehicle’s road load for modeling and EPA certification. For a traditional coastdown, the vehicle’s drivetrain must be disconnected through a clutch between the engine and the transmission while traveling at a high rate of speed to place the vehicle in neutral. This changes for hybrid and electric vehicles. Some hybrid, and most electric, vehicles delivered to customers do not have this clutch action to grant the …

Understanding Perceptions Of Vulnerable Roadway Users On Autonomous Vehicles, Md Tawhidur Rahman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Public perceptions have been playing an important role in the development of autonomous vehicle (AV) technology. Besides AV and non-AV users, the perceptions of vulnerable roadway users are critical, as AVs will become a part of multimodal transportation system. Pedestrians and bicyclists are among the vulnerable groups of roadway users, as they are relatively unprotected compared to the occupants of AVs or non-AVs. Although AV’s capability to monitor other vehicles has been documented in many studies, there are concerns about AV’s capability in monitoring pedestrians and bicyclists. The overarching goal of this dissertation is to investigate the perceptions of pedestrians …

The Impact Of Vision Zero Initiatives On Road User Safety In New York City, Alex C. Phares, Md Amdad Hossen, Kakan Dey

Mountaineer Undergraduate Research Review

Despite modern vehicles, improved transportation infrastructure, and advanced traffic signals, more than 36,000 Americans die from traffic crashes every year1. With the goal of reducing traffic fatalities to zero, New York City (NYC) adopted Vision Zero (VZ) initiatives in 2014 and has deployed 23 categories of countermeasures, ranging from road improvements to training and community outreach programs2. In this research, trend analysis and hypothesis tests were done on NYC traffic fatality data for three main categories of roadway users: motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians, to evaluate the success of the VZ initiatives. It was found that annual fatalities of both motorist …

Evaluating Factors Influencing Transportation-Related Energy Consumption, Amrit Williams

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This thesis contributes to the literature assessing the relationships between travel patterns, transportation-related energy consumption, and urban form. Although the literature has explored several area-related and other factors, the focus has mainly been on urban areas. This research aims to (1) quantify the relationship of transportation-related energy consumption with urban form, (2) explore how individual attitudes might affect consumption, and (3) explore differences in consumption among different socioeconomic and demographic population groups.

Data collected from an online survey targeting adults in the contiguous U.S. supplemented with secondary spatial data were used to address the research goals. The collected sample was …

Identification Of Crash Contributing Factors In Av Involved Crashes, Md Tanvir Ashraf

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) can dramatically reduce the number of traffic crashes and associated fatalities by eliminating the avoidable human-errors related crash contributing factors. Many companies have been conducting pilot tests on public roads in several states in the United States and other countries to accelerate AV mass deployment. AV pilot operations on California public roads saw 251 AV-involved crashes (as of February 2020). These AV-involved crashes provide a unique opportunity to investigate AV crash risks in a mixed traffic environment. This study collected the AV crash reports from the California Department of Motor Vehicles and applied the Decision Tree (DT), …

Calibration Of Iri-Based Psi Equation Using Updated Quarter-Car Parameters, Shirin Bahaaeldin Hassan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The international roughness index (IRI) was established in the 1980s and later used in generating the present serviceability index (PSI), which was developed to predict present serviceability rating (PSR). PSR is a measure of ride quality ratings made by a panel of highway users. The ratings range from 0 to 5, where “0” for very poor and “5” for very good. Various studies had formulated the relationship between IRI and PSI for different types of pavements, such as flexible, rigid, and composite pavements. The current IRI-based PSI equation being used among many state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) was proposed by …

Multi-Objective Optimization Of A Ridesharing System Performance, Mohammad Nasr Azadani

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Ridesharing is a shared vehicle service with the potential to meet the growing travel demand due to population increase, economic growth, and shortage in transportation infrastructure capacity. Compared to the current system of predominantly using personal vehicles, ridesharing services reduce the number of vehicles while providing mobility services to the same number of people with no additional investment in the transportation infrastructure. One of the big challenges in implementing ridesharing services is matching drivers and riders. Conflicts between matching-objectives to comply with the interests of diverse stakeholders influence the efficiency of ridesharing in a transportation system. This study investigates the …

Effect Of Binder Modification And Aggregate Size On Modulus And Fatigue Of Asphalt Concrete, Elizabeth Bashiti

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Asphalt concrete is one of the main ingredients used in the paving of roadways across the globe. These roadways have been deteriorating from overuse, under design, and a lack of understanding of the engineering properties. In the asphalt community, it is agreed upon that polymer modifiers and aggregate size have comparable impacts on the performance of a pavement, such as, low creep at high temperatures, high ductility at low temperatures, high toughness, resistance to moisture and temperature, high cohesive and adhesive strength. With all of these advantages, it has been often assumed that polymer modifiers extend/improve the expected life of …

Field Evaluation Of A Modular Press-Brake-Formed Steel Tub Girder In An Application That Includes Skew And Superelevation, Adam D. Roh

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The Short Span Steel Bridge Alliance (SSSBA) is a group of bridge and culvert industry leaders (including steel manufacturers, fabricators, service centers, coaters, researchers, and representatives of related associations and government organizations) who have joined together to provide educational information on the design and construction of short span steel bridges in installations up to 140’-0” in length. A technical working group from within the SSSBA developed the notion for the modular shallow press-brake-formed steel tub girder as a solution for the short span steel bridge market.

After extensive testing at West Virginia University and multiple successful field demonstrations, members of …

Evaluating The Polishing Of Skid Aggregates In Asphalt Using The British Pendulum Tester, Allison Nicole Givens

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

To ensure the pavements in West Virginia have adequate skid resistance the Division of Highways evaluates and approves skid resistant aggregate sources for all wearing courses on roads with an ADT of 3,000 or greater. Unfortunately, the supply of skid aggregates in West Virginia is depleting quickly. To find a potential alternative to using skid resistant aggregates, laboratory polishing of asphalt samples was performed using a Circular Track Polishing Machine, and friction was tested using a British Pendulum Tester. The experiment was designed to investigate how a specific aggregate type provides skid resistance to a hot asphalt mixture.

The objective …

On-Site Measurement Of The Water-Cementitious Ratio And Heat Of Hydration Of Delivered Concrete, Seyednavid Mardmomen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

In this study, AASHTO T318-15 was adopted to estimate the water content of fresh concrete mixes and then revised to have better precision. The additional step required sieving out the coarse aggregate after drying the sample in a microwave oven, and it was then used in the calculation of the absorbed water and cementitious material content. Several laboratory batches, as well as on-site water-cementitious (w/cm) ratio tests, were performed on concrete mixes containing ordinary Portland cement, ground granulated blast furnace slag, and Class F fly ash. The results of the experiments indicated that the accuracy of the revised method was …

Procedure For Asphalt Mixture Friction Evaluation For Wvdoh, Danielle Marie Hoyer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Monitoring asphalt skid resistance in the laboratory could aid in improved friction prediction capabilities and provide insight for developing alternative asphalt mixture designs in the future. The West Virginia Department of Highways (WVDOH) sought the design of a laboratory accelerated asphalt polishing machine to further expand on current skid resistance measurement practices. The design is modeled after the North Carolina State University (NCSU) polishing machine detailed in ASTM E660. The purpose of this research was to develop a testing procedure for the polishing equipment. Friction was monitored with the British Pendulum Tester (BPT) according to ASTM E303.

Specimens were prepared …

Evaluation Of Test Specimen Geometry Of Asphalt Mixes Tested With The Asphalt Mixture Performance Tester, Abha Dwivedy

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Asphalt concrete, AC, is a heterogeneous material that is modeled as a homogeneous material. The disparity between material structure and theory presents issue with performance testing with test sample geometries, resulting in variability. The purpose of this research is to develop appropriate sample geometry for AMPT test for accurate characterization of asphalt mix and ease of testing.

Four sample geometries were fabricated for three mix types. All specimens are fabricated at 7%0.5% air voids and tested for AMPT tests. The effect of sample geometry was statistically analyzed using laboratory test results and performance predictions using FlexPAVE. For ranking analysis all …

Transit Agencies Performance Assessment And Implications, Parisa Hajibabaee

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Although most transit systems operate in small urban and rural areas in the United States, these systems have rarely received the same attention as their urban counterparts, both in terms of ensuring the efficiency and effectiveness of their operations and understanding the factors that affect their performance. This thesis's main goals are to assess the performance of rural and small urban public transit agencies and help them evaluate adopting a ridehailing program, thereby improving their performance. We applied operations research and decision-making tools to two public transit projects in small urban and rural areas. The first project focuses on three …

Impacts Of Bike Sharing On Transit Ridership, Moathe Salah Aljeri

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Biking is an active, environmentally friendly, and sustainable transportation mode that facilitates short utilitarian and recreational trips. As such, cities around the world have been implementing bicycle sharing/renting programs at stations in a wide network so that a traveler can mount one close to their origins and drop it off at a station nearest to their destinations. In addition, bike sharing programs can solve the first-mile and last-mile connectivity problems of transit modes. Such programs also enable short trips that were previously impossible without using transit modes. This research investigated the relationship between New York City (NYC) subway ridership and …

Modeling And Evaluation Of A Ridesharing Matching System From Multi-Stakeholders' Perspective, Md Tawhidur Rahman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

With increasing travel demand and mobility service quality expectations, demand responsive innovative services continue to emerge. Ridesharing is an established, yet evolving, mobility option that can provide more customized, reliable shared service without any new investment in the transportation infrastructure. To maximize the benefits of ridesharing service, efficient matching and distribution of riders among available drivers can provide a reliable mobility option under most operating conditions. Service efficiency of ridesharing depends on the system performance (e.g., trip travel time, trip delay, trip distance, detour distance, and trip satisfaction) acceptable to diverse mobility stakeholders (e.g., riders, drivers, ridesharing operators, and transportation …

Tire-Derived Geo-Cylinders And Polymer Products For Enhancing The Properties Of Base/Sub Base Materials In Pavement Systems, Justin Scott Smith

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

As a critical part of the transportation network, pavements offer a safe means for vehicular traffic. Pavements are subjected to many forms of stress during their service life, and they are susceptible to environment related cracking and failures. Failures can be attributed to poor subgrade, freeze-thaw variations, and fatigue under repetitive axle loadings. Reinforcement products such as tire-derived geo-cylinders (TDGC) which make-up mechanical concrete and geo-polymers have been utilized in civil engineering practice, and this research aims to understand the potential life of tested pavement system components set at displacement limitations when reinforced with TDGCs and geo-polymers from exposure to …

Resilience Modeling Of Surface Transportation System In Mixed Traffic Environment, Shofiq Ahmed

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Large-scale natural disasters challenge the resilience of surface transportation system. The objective of this research was to develop a resilience model of surface transportation system in mixed-traffic environment considering varying Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) penetration scenarios. As deployment of CAVs are expected to improve traffic operations, a resilience model was developed in this research to evaluate the resilience performance of a transportation system with several CAV penetration levels (0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) for a given budget and recovery time. The proposed resilience quantification model was applied on a roadway network considering several disaster scenarios. The network capacity …