Engineering Commons^™

Investigation Of Pressure Fluctuations In The Hyporheic Zone In Response To Flow Around A Hydraulic Structure, Timothy Calappi

Wayne State University Dissertations

Erosion around a cylinders is a well studied field. Particles erode when lift and drag forces overcome a critical threshold. These forces are typically studied from above the water-riverbed interface. This study maps hyporheic pressure fluctuations as they are related to surface water velocity. The pressure map is used to evaluate lift enhancement and destabilization forces on the riverbed. High pressure events in the subsurface help generate a destabilizing force from within the riverbed. This work develops a probability distribution function relating turbulent velocity fluctuations and subsurface pressure fluctuations.

A cylinder was fitted with differential pressure transducers such that the …

Development And Implementation Of A Proactive Safety Performance Evaluation System For General Contractors, Ahmet Selim Alpmen

Wayne State University Dissertations

Construction safety is an essential aspect of the construction industry and measuring safety performance has been of continuing concern. Most of the preceding studies concentrated on two widely used metrics in industry to evaluate and improve safety performance, EMR and incidence rates. However, it is recognized that these metrics have shortcomings, such as being reactive and not proactive, or representing a macroscopic approach and not microscopic approach, or disregarding the events that lead to accidents and only being result-oriented. Improving safety is one aspect of a research but using an appropriate safety measure is as important. Using these parameters comes …

Quality Modeling And Improvement Of University Facilities Services Using Six-Sigma - A Case Study On Wayne State University Fpm Services, Mohsen F. Mohamed Isa

Wayne State University Dissertations

Literature survey shows that there is no published information concerning the investigation and/or evaluation (by the customer) of the services provided by universities facilities management units, and no previous research was done to measure and evaluate such services to address, identify, and model the critical factors affecting quality.

This research work proposed a service quality model relating factors affecting quality of services provided by facility management units at higher educational institutions to the customer perception of service quality. It also examined the use of the Six-Sigma DMAIC methodology as an improvement strategy for services provided by facility management units at …

Analysis Of Fatal And Nonfatal Accidents Involving Earthmoving Equipment Operators And On-Foot Workers, Esref Emrah Kazan

Wayne State University Dissertations

In view of the limitations of univariate statistics for studying construction accidents, a multivariate approach was undertaken using crosstabulation analysis and logistic regression.

Heavy construction equipment accidents related data for four type of equipment; backhoe, bulldozer, excavator and scraper were incorporated in the study using categorical variables. Degree of injury indicating the severity of accident outcome (fatal vs. nonfatal) was selected as the dependent variable, and a variety of factors potentially affecting the outcome comprised the independent variables. Cross tabulation results enabled the understanding and evaluation of associations between the research variables, while logistic regression yielded predictive models that helped …

Evaluating Chemical Toxicity: A Novel Behavioral Assay Using Daphnia, Maya A. Zein

Wayne State University Dissertations

Pharmaceuticals, and personal care products (PPCPs), and other emerging contaminants, such as pesticides, are increasingly being detected in the environment. Important sources of these contaminants are waste water treatment plants and agriculture. Many of these contaminants are biologically active at low concentrations, and may impair physiological processes in exposed organisms, alter reproductive, endocrine or immune system function, and ultimately affect fitness and survival. These chemicals are often found in the environment as complex mixtures, and this complicates their evaluation of their toxicity. There is a need for high-throughput assays to rapidly assess the toxicity of these emerging contaminants. A behavioral …