Engineering Commons^™

Methods To Improve The Remediation Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (Pahs) In Aerobic And Anaerobic Environments, Brian Wartell

Dissertations

Oil spills occur regularly in terrestrial environments and crude oil can contain many compounds that are highly resistant to degradation. Among these compounds are high levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which are not only toxic but can also be carcinogenic and/or mutagenic. The first chapter of this dissertation includes an extensive review chapter on the variables affecting the anaerobic degradation of hydrocarbons, with a particular focus on PAHs. Electron acceptors, electron donors, temperature, salinity, pH all play key roles in determining the possibility effective of effective degradation occurring. Thus, by addressing solutions, such as biostimulation, improving environmental variables for …

Experimental And Numerical Characterization Of Multiphase Subsurface Oil Release, Feng Gao

Dissertations

Subsurface oil release is commonly encountered in the natural environment and engineering applications and has received the substantial attention of researchers after the disastrous Deepwater Horizon Blowout oil spill in 2009. The main focus on the present research is to systematically study the hydrodynamics of underwater oil jet under a variety of conditions, including the effect of dispersant and different gas to oil ratios (GOR) by using experimental measurement as well as a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approach, from which the measured turbulent characteristics (e.g., velocity, turbulent kinetic energy, turbulence dissipation rate, etc.) of underwater oil jet are thoroughly examined …

Costs And Benefits Of Flood Mitigation In Louisiana, Arash Taghi Nezhad Bilandi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Assessing the costs and benefits of hazard mitigation efforts is an essential component of disaster management, planning, and resilience assessment. These calculations are particularly important in locations vulnerable to multiple hazards with high frequencies, such as coastal Louisiana. This study aims to provide an improved understanding of the costs and benefits of flood mitigation efforts in Louisiana funded by federal government grants between 2005 and 2015. Project data provided by the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) were summarized and missing values were imputed using robust statistical approaches. Elevation project cost was investigated for prediction by statistical …

Controls On Phosphorus Export From An Agricultural Watershed: Amsden Brook, Fort Fairfield, Maine Usa., Gregory J. Mcdonald

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the sources and mechanisms of phosphorus (P) mobilization during base flow within the Amsden Brook watershed, Fort Fairfield, Maine, USA. Amsden Brook is an agriculturally dominated watershed drained by a spring-fed and perennial first- to second-order stream. We characterized the P concentrations within the watershed to investigate connections between soils, stream sediment, surface water, and groundwater. Waters were monitored monthly during the 2017 snow-free period for temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, soluble reactive P (SRP), total P, strong acid anions, strong base cations, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), Al, Fe, and Mn. Phosphorus speciation within soils and sediment …

Laboratory Evaluation Of Recycled Crushed Glass Cullet For Use As An Aggregate In Beach Nourishment And Marsh Creation Projects In Southeastern Louisiana, John C. Wildman

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

To combat the rapid degradation of the Louisiana coast, the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority has planned strategic land building initiatives throughout the Louisiana Gulf coast, including beach nourishment and marsh creation projects. It is commonly agreed that the state lacks sufficient renewable sediment resources to maintain the planned CPRA land building program. However, Louisiana, the state that commonly ranks last in state recycling percentage, recycles an estimated 0.6% of the waste glass consumed in the state. Glass is predominantly silica sand. This thesis evaluates laboratory‑determined characteristics of recycled crushed glass cullet to assess its suitability as a renewable …

Elevated Temperature Progressive Damage And Failure Of Duplex Stainless Steel, Darren P. Luke

Civil Engineering ETDs

Ductile failure of metals has been the focus of research efforts within academia and industry for many years since it is tremendously important for understanding the failure of structures under extreme loading conditions. However, limited research has been dedicated to elevated temperature ductile failure, which is critical for evaluating catastrophic events such as industrial, structural or shipping vessel fires. A detailed investigation was conducted on the structural response of Duplex Stainless Steel at elevated temperatures. The temperature dependence of elastic modulus, yield strength, ultimate strength, and ductility was measured up to 1000°C and a continuum damage plasticity model was developed. …

Spatial Exploration Of Trace Metals In Near-Surface Water And Soil In The Bolivian Altiplano, Lizzie Wilson

Civil and Environmental Engineering Theses and Dissertations

We analyzed soil and groundwater samples from the Bolivian Altiplano for trace metal concentrations, correlations and partitioning trends. Total digestion, sequential extraction and loss on ignition experiments were performed on soil samples. We ran aqueous samples on an ICP-MS. Results were analyzed to identify trace metal concentrations and find any significant correlations. We generated interpolated maps in ArcGIS to spatially analyze results. Results for elevated concentrations of interest were divided into sub-groups of organophilic metals, oxoanions and divalent metals and include vanadium, arsenic, selenium, zinc, nickel, lead, cobalt, uranium, copper and manganese. These elements are likely naturally sourced. We found …

Effect Of Curing Conditions On Mechanical Properties And Durability Of Concrete, Edgar Lazaro Salas-Borrero

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis presents the results for three different concrete mix designs with compression strengths of 4500 psi. The experiment was conducted in the Las Vegas area during the summer, from August 16th to October 12th, 2018, where temperatures and relative humidity was recorded daily, three times a day. In total, 135 concrete specimens (4” x 8”) were taken on site and were subjected to five different curing conditions.

For each concrete mix design, three concrete samples (4” x 8”) were taken and submitted for each curing condition, resulting in 45 cylinders for each concrete mix design. The same number of …

Performance-Based Economical Seismic Design Of Multistory Reinforced Concrete Frame Buildings And Reliability Assessment, Chunyu Zhang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

As the next generation of seismic design methodology, performance-based seismic design (PBSD) method requires a structure satisfy multiple preselected performance levels under different hazard levels. Optimal PBSD methods provide different strategies to design the numerous variables, including strength, stiffness and ductility of each structural component. The overall goal of this study is to develop a new optimal PBSD method for multi-story RC moment frames. This method is capable of overcoming the deficiencies of existing optimal PBSD methods and can be implemented by the U.S. design practice. The proposed method minimizes construction cost and takes the limit of member plastic rotation …

Surface Resistivity For Concrete Quality Assurance, Stanley Tat

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The goal of this study was to determine the effectiveness of SRT for concrete quality assurance and to evaluate the relationship between SRT and the three chloride ion ingress methods currently used by various State DOTs. Additionally, the influence of binder type and content, concrete age, and water-to cementitious materials ratio on the experimental results were also examined.

In this study, Type V Portland and three SCMs; namely fly ash, slag, and silica fume were used. Fine and coarse, aggregates were supplied by a local quarry. To evaluate the transport properties of the studied concretes, RMT, RCPT, and ACT were …

Mechanisms Of Calcium Phosphate Mineralization On Biological Interfaces And Their Engineering Applications, Doyoon Kim

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

All living organisms utilize phosphorus (P) as an essential component of their cell membranes, DNA and RNA, and adenosine triphosphate. Bones, in addition to bearing loads, play an important role in balancing P levels in our bodies. In bones, a network of collagen templates and calcium phosphate (CaP) nanocrystals builds hierarchical levels, from nano- to macroscale. Within this architecture, the thermodynamic properties of CaP minerals are influential. Despite the importance of nucleation, growth, and crystallization in collagen structures for tissue development, little kinetic study of these processes has been conducted due to the limited in situ techniques for monitoring these …

Calculation Of Access Charge For High Speed Rail Xpresswest Of Nevada, Sameeksha Sapkota

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

XpressWest is a High Speed Rail (HSR) system that plans to connect Las Vegas with California at Palmdale. It will utilize the railway network of the California High Speed Rail (CAHSR) to connect Las Vegas with California destinations that include Los Angeles and San Francisco. For sharing the railway network of CAHSR, XpressWest will pay certain charge known as an access charge. The access charge is the fee paid by the train operator to the infrastructure owner for the addition of trains in a track. There are several access charge systems in the world. However, there is no study that …

A Comprehensive Study Of Arsenic Removal From Aqueous Solution Using Low-Cost Adsorbents, Mrinmoyee Mondal

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Arsenic poisoning in water is a global concern for many years due to its high carcinogenic and toxic effect on the human body. Adsorption is one of the promising technology to treat arsenic-contaminant water. Recently, natural adsorbent modified with metal oxide/hydroxide is being studied widely, because of its great removal efficiency, inexpensive and eco-friendly properties.

In the present study, two low-cost adsorbents namely Aerocrete and Vermiculite (modified with iron oxy-hydroxide) were assessed for arsenic (both As(III) and As(V)) removal. The maximum removal of As(V) was ~99% at pH 6 for both adsorbents (3g/L). Optimum removal of As(III) was observed at …

An Engineered Fit-For-Purpose Polymer Nanocomposite Seal Repair Material For Wellbores, Moneeb Genedy

Civil Engineering ETDs

Seal integrity of wellbores has become of significant interest due to repeated leakage and spill incidents occurring worldwide that jeopardize both human health and the environment in addition to causing significant economic burden. This is attributed to the fact that wellbores intersecting geographical formations contain potential leakage pathways. The cement-steel and cement-rock formation interfaces are recognized as two critical leakage pathways.

A seal repair material that has good bond strength with both steel and rock formations in addition to the ability to completely fill thin microcracks is needed to restore the seal integrity of wellbores. In this research, engineered polymer …

Aversion And Warning Factors For Assessing Existing Reinforced Concrete Structures, Marcie Van Weerdhuizen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In a world of aging infrastructure, sustainability initiatives require additional investment in the assessment of existing reinforced concrete structures. Reliability-based assessment should minimize costs by reducing conservatism, while ensuring levels of safety equivalent to those for new designs. Current Canadian and US provisions assign target reliability levels for structural assessment based on criteria including occupancy type, expected failure behaviour, and the effect of element failure on the overall structural integrity. These criteria are defined using discrete and qualitative parameter values. It is shown that the true structural conditions can be better represented by verifying the applicability and completeness of these …

From Probabilistic Socio-Economic Vulnerability To An Integrated Framework For Flash Flood Prediction, Sepideh Khajehei

Dissertations and Theses

Flash flood is among the most hazardous natural disasters, and it can cause severe damages to the environment and human life. Flash floods are mainly caused by intense rainfall and due to their rapid onset (within six hours of rainfall), very limited opportunity can be left for effective response. Understanding the socio-economic characteristics involving natural hazards potential, vulnerability, and resilience is necessary to address the damages to economy and casualties from extreme natural hazards. The vulnerability to flash floods is dependent on both biophysical and socio-economic factors. This study provides a comprehensive assessment of socio-economic vulnerability to flash flood alongside …

Treated Versus Untreated Aggregate Bases For Flexible Pavements: A Nationwide Comparitive Study, Hemant Gc, Mena I. Souliman

Civil Engineering Theses

Aggregates are a major part of highway construction and its quality as well as strength affects the overall performance of the pavement structure. The base material near the construction site does not always meet the strength requirement needed for the pavement construction and the hauling of quality aggregate increases the construction costs. For better use of local available materials, stabilizing agents such as lime and asphalt cement have been utilized to increase the strength of crushed aggregate bases. Performance of pavement structures is heavily influenced by the thickness of the structure as well as material properties of each layer. The …

Experimental Testing And Modeling Of Partial Nitrification At Different Temperatures, Xiaoguang Liu

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Nitrogen in wastewater treatment plant effluents has adverse environmental effects on aquatic systems. Excessive concentrations of nitrogen in water bodies can result in the depletion of dissolved oxygen, deterioration of water quality, and shifts of biotic community. Conventional biological nitrogen removal (BNR) processes consume high energy for nitrification and require external carbon for denitrification. Alternatively, partial nitrification is of interest as an emerging technology for its lower need of organic carbon addition and cost savings in aeration. In this study, the main objectives are: 1- developing a mathematical model involving operational parameters for the determination of successful partial nitrification conditions; …

Performance Of Single And Groups Of Hollow Bar Micropiles In Sand, Maged Abdlrahem

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Micropiles offer an efficient load transfer mechanism, which facilitates carrying considerable load in compression and tension. Recently, hollow bar micropiles (HBMP) have gained wide acceptance due to their fast installation and small installation equipment, which allows installation in sites with limited access. The HBMP is commonly constructed using a drill bit/ hollow bar diameter ratio (D_b/D_h) of around 2, and they are typically designed assuming type B micropiles as classified by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). However, increasing the drill bit diameter should increase the micropile diameter and hence may enhance its performance and increase its …

Attributing Accelerated Increases In Salinity In The Mediterranean Coastal Zone To Climate Change And Seawater Desalination Brine And The Resultant Unsustainability Of Modern Desalination Technology, Brandon W. Harper

HCNSO Student Capstones

Anthropogenic climate change influences our oceans on a global scale and has brought about increased salinity levels in large areas of our oceans such as the North Atlantic (Dunbar 2009). Concentrations of large scale desalination plants around small bodies of water add to this pattern and have shown even larger increases in salinity due to desalination brine discharge (Purnama et al., 2005). Salinity profile data over time should show similar increases in salinity in the Mediterranean Sea due to climate change and localized data should show increased salinity due to brine discharge. This study aims to pinpoint the extent of …

An Investigation Of Surface Water Sediment Source Tracking Using Bacterial Metagenomics And Elemental Fingerprinting, Yanchong Huangfu

Doctoral Dissertations

Excess suspended sediment in river systems commonly degrades surface water quality. A sediment source tracking approach is necessary to target management practices that will reduce significant sources of sediment in rainfall runoff and restore water quality. Sediment source tracking utilizes the biogeochemical characteristics of sediment, often paired with a mathematical model, to link eroding source materials and in-stream suspended sediment. However, there are still many questions left unanswered in using this approach, including simultaneously identifying fecal contamination sources, quantifying the reliability of sediment tracers, and methods to assess the accuracy of sediment source identification. The research herein utilized the microbial …

Improving Ductility Of Slender Reinforced Concrete Shear Walls With Frp Sheets And Splay Anchors, Luke M. Ostrom

Architectural Engineering

The Sylmar earthquake of 1971 caused significant damage to slender, non-ductile reinforced concrete (RC) shear wall buildings in California. A later survey by the Concrete Coalition in 2011, under the guidance of EERI members, indicated that there are over 3000 vulnerable concrete buildings in California [8]. This led to City of Los Angeles (LA) Ordinance 193893 enacted in 2015, which requires mandatory upgrades to these concrete buildings by 2035. Current practice to meet the requirements of this ordinance, with respect to RC wall buildings, involves adding new shear walls to the building plan or increasing the cross-sectional area of existing …

Implementing Coordination Lab And Lesson Into Cm 413 - Job Site, Connor R. Westover

Construction Management

Coordination can make or break a job. The act of coordination and the millions of pieces that go into a single project can directly affect both the schedule and budget of a construction project. Coordination is not a single part of the job, it is an on-going process that continuously involves all entities of the project. The importance of coordination and what it entails is not yet captured in the Cal Poly Construction Management curriculum. The purpose of this project would be to capture that importance and continue to build upon it to better prepare Cal Poly Builders for the …

Bridging The Gap: 3d Modeling To Hands On Learning, Tyler J. Hecht

Construction Management

This project is a rework of Cal Poly Construction Management Building Information Modeling class, Revit Activity. The goal of the assignment is to teach the fundamentals and concepts of Autodesk Revit, and the tools that can be used within the construction industry. The model itself is based upon a hands-on lab that the Commercial Construction class builds. The modeling exercise allows students to model several key elements of a building, following a construction sequence. Following the modeling, the students will be able to create sheets and create their own plan set that was modeled. On those plan sets they will …

A Microscopic Simulation Laboratory For Evaluation Of Off-Street Parking Systems, Yun Yuan

Theses and Dissertations

The parking industry produces an enormous amount of data every day that, properly analyzed, will change the way the industry operates. The collected data form patterns that, in most cases, would allow parking operators and property owners to better understand how to maximize revenue and decrease operating expenses and support the decisions such as how to set specific parking policies (e.g. electrical charging only parking space) to achieve the sustainable and eco-friendly parking.

However, there lacks an intelligent tool to assess the layout design and operational performance of parking lots to reduce the externalities and increase the revenue. To address …

Evaluation And Influence Of Recycled Concrete Aggregate Base Layers On Hma Pavement Performance, Jessie Daniel Ramirez

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigated the influence of the RCA base layers on the HMA pavement performance as compared with CA base layers using laboratory tests on collected base layer materials and field tests on corresponding pavement sections. Field and laboratory testing programs were conducted to investigate RCA and CA base layer materials in which identified test sections at the selected pavement sites were subjected to testing using FWD, walking profiler, and DCP. Visual distress surveys were also conducted at the selected pavement sections. RCA and CA base layer samples were collected from these pavement sites and were subjected to a laboratory …

Global Renewable And Nonrenewable Energy Use Impact Assessment Of U.S. Manufacturing: An Integrated Cradle-To-Gate Lca And Dea Approach, Bahadir Ezici

Master's Theses

In this thesis, U.S. manufacturing industries` global supply chain-linked energy use and economic output are investigated considering a total of 16 renewable and nonrenewable energy carriers. A multiregion input output (MRIO) framework is employed to conduct the global supply chain-linked energy use impact assessment. The study period was between 1995 and 2014 based on data availability. Thus, 20 MRIO models were developed. Each MRIO model consists of the 40 largest economies of the world and the rest of the world (ROW) as the 41st country. Each country’s economy was structured into 35 manufacturing and service industries based on the Worth …

On The Development Of 8,000 Psi Geopolymer Mortar For Practical Use In Field Applications, Remington Gabriel Reed

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although there are several perceived benefits from the use of geopolymer binder as an alternative to ordinary portland cement in concrete materials, it is not widely used in field applications. Geopolymer materials have no set guidelines for mixture design and often require heat curing to facilitate strength gain. Additionally, many geopolymers are created using carefully controlled and high quality materials and activator chemicals. These factors greatly affect the practicality of the material. The goal of this research was to create a geopolymer material capable of achieving high compressive strengths at 28 days without heat curing, and using only readily available …

Developing Ultra-High Performance Concrete (Uhpc) With Locally Available Materials, Ali Alsalman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) can enhance the durability and resilience of concrete structures. The use of local materials is a fundamental step to save energy and reduce the cost of concrete. The main focus of this research was to develop a UHPC with compressive strength of 150 MPa using locally sources materials. In this study, the effect of fine materials, binder type and content, type of mixer, steel fibers and curing regimes on concrete’s compressive strength were investigated. The relationship between compressive strength and elastic modulus was also studied. This study synthesizes all relevant experimental data in the literature to …

Effect Of Continuity Plate Eccentricity On The Performance Of Welded Beam-To-Column Connections, Jason Thomas Norwood

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Beam-to-column connections in structural steel buildings may have varying degrees of rotational restraint and varying degrees of moment transfer. In fully restrained moment connections, shear is typically transferred through the beam web, while the moment is mostly transferred through the beam flanges which create tension/compression force couples. Column sections that are incapable of resisting these flange forces are often retrofitted with continuity plates within the connection region to improve capacity. In cases of unequal beam depths on either side of the column, an eccentricity between the framed-in beam flange and continuity plate may be required; however, limited research exists to …