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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Influence Of Socio-Economic And Demographic Factors On Crashes In Rural South Carolina At Sub-County Level, Sunil Jakhadi Dec 2006

Influence Of Socio-Economic And Demographic Factors On Crashes In Rural South Carolina At Sub-County Level, Sunil Jakhadi

All Theses

State of South Carolina ranks high in the fatality rates. The state is a predominately a rural state with more percentage of rural roads. This research focuses on the statistical variation of crash rates between the county and block-group, especially rural once to the state. Also, it focuses on the possibility of various socio-economic and demographic characters influence on the high crash rates particularly in rural South Carolina.
Crash database for the year 2004 was acquired from South Carolina Department of Transportation and was processed by the research team at Clemson University. This processed database was imported into GIS. Spatial …


Life Cycle Cost Analysis Of Pavements: State-Of-The-Practice, Zeynep Guven Dec 2006

Life Cycle Cost Analysis Of Pavements: State-Of-The-Practice, Zeynep Guven

All Theses

Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) is performed by transportation agencies in the design phase of transportation projects in order to be able to implement more economical strategies, to support decision processes in pavement type selection (flexible or rigid) and also to assess the relative costs of different rehabilitation options within each type of pavement. However, most of the input parameters are inherently uncertain. In order to implement the LCCA process in a reliable and trustworthy manner, this uncertainty must be addressed. This thesis summarizes a through research that aims at improving the existing LCCA approach for South Carolina Department of …


Effect Of South Caroline Belt Law On Safety Belt Use, Sourabh Patki Dec 2006

Effect Of South Caroline Belt Law On Safety Belt Use, Sourabh Patki

All Theses

A number of factors and accessories help save lives and prevent injuries to road users, yet safety belts have become synonymous with automobile safety today, unlike any accessory before or since their introduction in automobiles. However, the scientific advances in automobile safety, followed by the acceptance of the necessity for safety in automobiles by both the manufacturers and the population, finally leading to the introduction of safety features and their incorporation within the laws occurred over a much longer span, continuing even today. Today's Safety movement aims at increasing safety belt using an awareness campaigns, accompanied by enforcement. Safety belt …


Development Of Fatigue Predictive Models Of Rubberized Asphalt Concrete (Rac) Containing Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (Rap) Mixtures, Feipeng Xiao Dec 2006

Development Of Fatigue Predictive Models Of Rubberized Asphalt Concrete (Rac) Containing Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (Rap) Mixtures, Feipeng Xiao

All Dissertations

In recent years, some by-products such as crumb rubber has been used to save money, protect the environment, and extend the life of asphalt pavements. In addition, the utilization of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) is an acceptable practice in many states around the United States and many countries all over the world. However, the use of RAP containing crumb rubber has not been investigated in great detail, so it is essential to explore whether these materials have a positive effect on the fatigue life of asphalt pavement. In general, previous experience shows that the use of RAP has proven to …


Best Practices For Developing The Engineer's Estimate, Karl Niedzwecki Dec 2006

Best Practices For Developing The Engineer's Estimate, Karl Niedzwecki

All Theses

The research project 'Best Practices for Developing the Engineering Estimate' was executed by Clemson University on behalf of the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT). The primary objective of this research project was to investigate the strengths and weaknesses of two types of estimating methods being utilized today by state department of transportations (DOT) nationwide. These two types of estimating methods are the unit cost line item approach, which the SCDOT utilizes, and the cost-based estimating approach. This research report identifies accuracy obtained, resources expended, and methodologies utilized when implementing either type of estimating approach. This was done so the …


Modeling Long-Term Plutonium Transport In The Savannah River Site Vadose Zone, Deniz Demirkanli Dec 2006

Modeling Long-Term Plutonium Transport In The Savannah River Site Vadose Zone, Deniz Demirkanli

All Dissertations

Improved understanding of flow and radionuclide transport in vadose zone sediments is fundamental to future planning involving radioactive materials. Long-term experiments were conducted at the Savannah River Site (SRS), where a series of lysimeters containing sources of different Pu oxidation states were placed in the shallow subsurface and exposed to the environment for 2 to 11 years. After the experiments, Pu activity concentrations were measured along vertical cores. The distributions were anomalous in nature, with irregular downward migration and unexpected upward migration. Previous studies suggested that surface-mediated, oxidation/reduction (redox) reactions may be responsible for the anomalies. This hypothesis is tested …


Evaporation Estimation Using A Floating Pan, Michael Klink Dec 2006

Evaporation Estimation Using A Floating Pan, Michael Klink

All Theses

Almost all regions in the United States must accurately estimate evaporation to have effective water management programs. The purpose of this study is to develop a better method for measuring evaporation. Lake evaporation along with meteorological data are measured directly from a floating pan. The floating pan is specifically designed to account for one of the most sensitive parameters of evaporation, the water surface temperature, which the design achieves. However, other design factors such as air movement, solar radiation, stability, heat transfer, wave action, water level range, and site location were also taken into consideration. The evaporation measured from the …


Optimizing The Project Team's Contribution To Business Objectives, Chad Rowland Dec 2006

Optimizing The Project Team's Contribution To Business Objectives, Chad Rowland

All Theses

The traditional expectations of the project team are for the processes of engineering, procurement, construction, and start-up to be expertly administered. However, these performance criteria can be satisfied yet still not meet the ultimate business needs of the owner. The purpose of this thesis was to determine ways to improve the likelihood of achieving owner's business objectives. Fifty-one questionnaire survey forms were analyzed to obtain data for thirty-three pre-project planning activities. A data analysis concluded with a degree of statistical significance that for thirteen of the thirty-three activities, the more successful projects, as defined by the satisfaction of the business …


Investigation Into Compatibility Between Repair Material And Substrate Concrete Using Experimental And Finite Element Method, Rashmi Pattnaik Dec 2006

Investigation Into Compatibility Between Repair Material And Substrate Concrete Using Experimental And Finite Element Method, Rashmi Pattnaik

All Dissertations

The failure of concrete repairs is mainly due to improper selection of repair material based on individual repair material properties, without investigating the compatibility between repair material and substrate concrete. In this dissertation the compatibility between eight repair materials and substrate concrete was investigated in three stages. First, individual properties of the repair materials such as setting time, flow, compressive strength, flexural strength, split tensile strength, bond strength, drying shrinkage, freeze-thaw resistance, and permeability, were determined using standard ASTM test procedures. Second, the compatibility was investigated using a composite beam under third point loading. Third, the correlation of repair material …


A Comparison Of The Zns(Ag) Scintillation Detector To The Silicon Semiconductor Detector For Quantification Of Alpha Radioactivity In Aqueous Solutions, Jennifer Foster Dec 2006

A Comparison Of The Zns(Ag) Scintillation Detector To The Silicon Semiconductor Detector For Quantification Of Alpha Radioactivity In Aqueous Solutions, Jennifer Foster

All Theses

A ZnS(Ag) detector was successfully used in the direct detection of alpha particles from aqueous solutions and the results were compared to the passivated ion implanted planar silicon (PIPS) continuous air monitor (CAM) detector. The ZnS(Ag) detector is recommended for on-line detection of gross alpha radioactivity from high-level liquid waste process streams; however, the detector suffers from limitations due to variations in detection efficiency with alpha energies. The beta and gamma interference did not significantly spillover into the alpha region of interest of the ZnS(Ag) detector which provided absolute detection efficiencies of 7.19 ± 0.13%, 5.37 ± 0.02%, and 4.21 …


Shear-Wave Velocity Model Of Near-Surface Sediments, Site Response, And Building Damage: 1886 Charleston, South Carolina Earthquake, Cedric Fairbanks Dec 2006

Shear-Wave Velocity Model Of Near-Surface Sediments, Site Response, And Building Damage: 1886 Charleston, South Carolina Earthquake, Cedric Fairbanks

All Dissertations

An updated small-strain shear wave velocity (Vs) model of near-surface sediments is constructed using measurements from over 90 investigation sites in the greater Charleston area. It is constructed by separating the Vs measurements into six major geologic units. The six units are: 1) man-made fills, 2) Holocene and late Pleistocene deposits, 3) the Wando Formation, 4) the Ten Mile Hill beds, 5) the Penholoway Formation and the Daniel Island beds, and 6) Tertiary deposits. Median Vs values for these units in the top 25 m are 145 m/s, 111 m/s, 189 m/s, 176 m/s, 285 m/s and 399 m/s, respectively. …


Controlling Steam Flood Migration With Air Injection Wells, Rex Hodges Dec 2006

Controlling Steam Flood Migration With Air Injection Wells, Rex Hodges

All Dissertations

Steam flooding is an aggressive remediation technology for removing volatile organic chemical (VOC) sources that slowly dissolve into passing groundwater. Plume concentrations can be reduced, accelerating cleanup, and decreasing plume management costs. Steam injected in wells surrounding the source spreads outward and develops into a front that drives contamination to a system of groundwater pumping wells in the saturated zone and soil vapor extraction wells in the vadose zone. The process can be modeled with the non-isothermal multi-phase flow simulator T2VOC to include operation designs and factors at individual sites.
A pilot field-scale test at the Savannah River Site (SRS) …


The Effects Of Calcium Magnesium Acetate Deicers On Portland Cement Mortar Bars, Jeffrey Davis Dec 2006

The Effects Of Calcium Magnesium Acetate Deicers On Portland Cement Mortar Bars, Jeffrey Davis

All Theses

This thesis involves the investigation of the effects of Calcium Magnesium Acetate (CMA) deicers on Portland cement mortar bars. In addition to mass-loss, length change, pulse velocity and soak solution pH, the thesis also contains a rigorous chemical analysis of the mortar completed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, MD. The research completed at NIST was done using a technique known as X-ray Mapping. The X-ray techniques were employed to determine the exact nature of the damage caused by CMA. The thesis is a combination of two papers, on the physical effects of CMA and …


Investigation Of Corrosion Effects On Bond-Slip And Tensile Strength Of Reinforced Concrete Members, M. A. Shayanfar, Amir Safiey, M. Ghalehnovi Jun 2006

Investigation Of Corrosion Effects On Bond-Slip And Tensile Strength Of Reinforced Concrete Members, M. A. Shayanfar, Amir Safiey, M. Ghalehnovi

Publications

The corrosion effect on tensile strength of RC members is very important to region with high corrosion conditions. In this article a study on finding bond behaviour, crack pattern, crack spacing, and tensile strength of RC members is presented. For this purpose a comprehensive experimental program including reinforced concrete cylanders with different concrete covers and reinforcement ratios under various corrosion rates is conducted. The specimens are located in large tub containing water and salt (5% salt solution) with a devich for accelerated corrosion production. For each specimen, the variation of total tensile strength versus its average strain is plotted and …