Engineering Commons^™

The Impact Of Material And Environmental Properties On The Ettringite - Metaettringite Thermochemical Reaction, Aaron Strand

Dissertations

The use of energy is an essential need for people, with demand constantly increasing due to an increasing population and an increase in living and comfort standards. Since 1965, world energy consumption has quadrupled. During peak utilization, the strain on the grid infrastructure can be immense. As energy demand fluctuates during different times of the day and year, the energy production needs to scale accordingly This creates inefficiencies within the system such as over building generation capacity or losses from start up or ramping up production. This can be alleviated through load leveling where excess energy generated during low demand …

Behavior Of Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete Made With Recycled Concrete Aggregates: Material Characterization And Deep Beam Shear Response, Nancy Kachouh

Dissertations

This research aims to examine the performance of concrete made with recycled concrete aggregates (RCAs) and steel fibers. It comprises material characterization tests, large-scale reinforced concrete (RC) deep beam tests, and numerical modeling. Material characterization test parameters included the RCA replacement percentage (30, 70, and 100%) and the steel fiber volume fraction (vf = 1, 2, and 3%). Fourteen large-scale deep beam numerical models with and without web openings made with 100% RCAs and steel fibers were developed and validated through a comparative analysis with test results. A numerical parametric study was conducted to investigate the effect of varying …

Connected And Automated Vehicles: Their Implication On Capacity Of A Basic Freeway Section And Impacts On Walkway Safety, Sia Macmillan Lyimo

Dissertations

Autonomous vehicles have recently gained the attention of researchers due to their expected potential benefits on highway traffic streams, such as improving roadway capacity, among others. It is imperative to investigate how these expected benefits can be leveraged in the transportation sector. Understanding the safety and operational benefits helps the concerned transportation agencies and other key stakeholders to make necessary infrastructural and policy adjustments to accommodate such future traffic operation changes. The main goal of this dissertation is to study the impact of connected and automated vehicles on freeway capacity. The simulated environment was created to emulate autonomous vehicle behaviors, …

Shale Softening Based On Pore Network And Laboratory Investigations, Di Zhang

Dissertations

This dissertation consists of two major parts: Firstly, experimental investigation of four major shale softening mechanisms and quantifications of structural parameters. Secondly, numerical simulations of nano-scale flow behaviors using the previous experiments determined parameters based on modified pore network modeling.

Hydraulic fracturing is widely applied to economical gas production from shale reservoirs. Still, the gradual swelling of the clay micro/nano-pores due to retained fluid from hydraulic fracturing causes a gradual reduction of gas production. Four different gas-bearing shale samples are investigated to quantify the expected shale swelling due to hydraulic fracturing. These shale samples are subject to heated deionized (DI) …

Performance Evaluation Of Transportation Systems For Sustainability And Smart-Growth Of Cities: An Integrated Assessment Of Health Impacts, Ahmad Feizi

Dissertations

The performance of transportation systems is a significant component that influences the quality of life. The performance evaluation refers to a process of determining how well transportation systems perform regarding their intended goals and objectives. The advancement of information and communication technology and the integration between transportation systems and advanced technologies have directed more attention to the concept of smart cities. Smart cities are constituted of several interrelated components. Therefore, this offers comprehensive and integrated frameworks to evaluate the transportation performance and understanding of multifaceted interactions between the components from a transportation engineering perspective in four sections.

In the first …

Data Mining Of Unstructured Textual Information In Transportation Safety Domain: Exploring Methods, Opportunities And Limitations, Keneth Morgan Kwayu

Dissertations

The unprecedented increase in volume and influx of structured and unstructured data has overwhelmed conventional data management system capabilities in organizing, analyzing, and procuring useful information in a timely fashion. Structured data sources have a pre-defined pattern that makes data preprocessing and information retrieval tasks relatively easy for the current technologies that have been designed to handle structured and repeatable data. Unlike structured data, unstructured data usually exists in an unorganized format that offers no or little insight unless indexed and stored in an organized fashion. The inherent format of unstructured data exacerbates difficulties in data preprocessing and information extraction. …

Safe Yield Comparisons For The 1960’S And 2000’S Drought In The Passaic River Basin, Stephanie R. Santos

Dissertations

The Passaic River Basin is a complex system of rivers, tributaries, reservoirs, and some of the largest water purveyors in the State of New Jersey. Located in the northeastern part of the State, it drains approximately 800 square miles of water that is used for distribution to the five major purveyors: North Jersey District Water Supply Commission, Passaic Valley Water Commission, Jersey City, Newark, and New Jersey American Water. These purveyors operate under a safe yield, which is defined by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) as the amount of water that should be continuously available should the …

The Stability Of Nanobubbles And Its Application In Contaminated Sediment Treatment, Shaini Dilsha Aluthgun Hewage

Dissertations

This dissertation consists of two sections. First, nanobubbles' stability and behavior are studied using experimental and theoretical approaches. Second, nanobubbles application combined with ultrasound to remediate contaminated sediments is discussed.

The stability study consists of four sections. (i). Laboratory investigation to determine bubble size distributions and zeta potentials for different gases, pH levels, temperatures, and salt conditions. (ii). A theoretical study based on the diffused double layer theory to explain nanobubbles' behavior in different NaCl concentrations. (iii). Nanobubbles' stability in electrolyte solutions under different ion valencies using deionized water, NaCl, Na₂SO₄, Na₃PO₄, …

Stress-State And Injection-Rate Dependent Damage Processes During The Hydraulic Fracturing Of Granite, Gayani Sasendrika Gunarathna

Dissertations

Hydraulic fracturing is a well-stimulation technique that is employed in field applications, such as enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) and shale oil/gas extraction. This research experimentally investigates the effect of the state of stress and injection rate on the hydraulic fracturing processes. In addition, a displacement discontinuity method (DDM) code, FROCK, is used to model the crack initiation and propagation in a granite specimen under hydraulic fracturing conditions. In order to conduct the experimental work, a test setup capable of applying a triaxial state of stress and water pressure inside pre-fabricated flaws cut in prismatic granite specimens is developed. Additionally, the …

Numerical And Analytical Methods To Predict Behavior Of Reinforced Ductile Concrete Composites, Mandeep Pokhrel

Dissertations

Structural components constructed with ductile concrete composites, such as high-performance fiber-reinforced cementitious composites (HPFRCC), are known to perform exceptionally well under extreme mechanical and environmental loading conditions compared to traditional concrete. HPFRCC flexural components exhibit enhanced performance in terms of displacement ductility, energy dissipation capacity, and damage tolerance capacity. However, recent research suggests that the flexural behavior of reinforced HPFRCCs in terms of crack progression, reinforcement plasticity, and failure mechanism is significantly different than conventional reinforced concrete. Specifically, the failure mode of flexural members is found to be predominantly through the fracture of longitudinal reinforcement rather than compression crushing of …

The Impact Of Conversion On The Durability Of Calcium Aluminate Cement Concrete Systems, Marwa Mohsen Korayem

Dissertations

The deterioration of infrastructure in North America has resulted in a significant need for concrete repair materials that can be used to maintain service life of these structures. Hydraulic cement based rapid repair materials can be used to repair pavement and bridge deterioration with minimal impact on economic activities such as freight handling or public transportation. While there are many options for use in repair situations, calcium aluminate cements have become more popular recently, particularly in situations where repairs must be completed rapidly.

Calcium aluminate cement (CAC) is a cement characterized by its rapid strength gain, even at low temperatures …

Analyzing Impacts Of Transportation And Non-Transportation Activities On Human Health With An Advanced Platform For Collecting Travel And Physical Activity Data, Raed Abdullah Hasan

Dissertations

Recently much attention is paid to the lack of physical activities that may cause the health problems in many counties. Travel activities provide a certain amount of physical activities, and the active transportation, such as walking and cycling, becomes more important as an essential element of transportation. The active transportation is expected to contribute to improving human health by reducing cardiovascular disease, obesity, and premature death. However, detailed relationship between the transportation choices and human health has not been well understood. Therefore, there is a need for investigating traveler behaviors and how their choices affect physical activities and public health. …

Effects Of Electro-Osmotic Consolidation Of Clays And Its Improvement Using Ion Exchange Membranes, Lucas Martin

Dissertations

Electro-osmosis is an established method of expediting consolidation of soft, saturated clayey soils compared to commonly used methods, such as preloading with wick drains. In electro-osmotic consolidation a direct current (DC) is applied via inserted electrodes. This causes hydrated ions in the interstitial fluid to migrate to oppositely charged electrodes. Because the clay particles have a negative surface charge, the majority of ions in the interstitial fluid are positively charged. Therefore, the net flow will be towards the negatively charged electrode (cathode), where the water can be removed and thus consolidation is achieved. Certain problems, such as pH changes in …

Fatigue Performance Of Rc Beams Strengthened With Near Surface Mounted Cfrp Composites, Tamer Ghaith Mousa Eljufout

Dissertations

Bridges have a fundamental role in improving the effectiveness of highways and providing an expedient and express traffic system. Over time, Reinforced Concrete (RC) bridges degrade due to gradually increased traffic loads and environmental deteriorations. Subsequently, service loads might cause higher stresses in concrete and steel reinforcement than stresses considered in the design stage. This affects the structural performance of RC beams and leads to sudden fatigue failure. As such, there is an essential need for rehabilitation to avoid hazards and tragedies.

Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) composites are becoming widely used to strengthen RC bridges. Near Surface Mounted (NSM) …

Assessing Infrastructure Elements Using Automated Object Detection Technique In Smart City Applications, Majid Mastali

Dissertations

Nowadays, road features are becoming more complex leading to more complicated complaints regarding urban environments. Point Cloud Data (PCD) processing is an essential element for detecting objects and analysing human driving behavior to identify the variables defining challenging objects and maneuvers in smart cities. PCDs include a range of processing, including indirect processing (e.g., data converting, cleaning process) and direct process (e.g., pass through elevation filter, statistical outlier removal, normal estimation as well as classification). Static and dynamic object detection and analysis are typically considered the most sophisticated options subsumed under PCDs. They involve direct evaluation of both static and …

Deterioration Prediction Modeling For The Condition Assessment Of Concrete Bridge Decks, Aqeed Moshin Chyad

Dissertations

Bridges are key elements in the US transportation system. There are more than six hundred thousand bridges on the highway system in the United States. Approximately one third of these bridges are in need of maintenance and will cost more than $120 billion to rehabilitate or repair. Several factors affect the performance of bridges over their life spans. Identifying these factors and accurately assessing the condition of bridges are critical in the development of an effective maintenance program. While there are several methods available for condition assessment, selecting the best technique remains a challenge. Therefore, developing an accurate and reliable …

Decontamination Of The Passaic River Sediments Using Ultrasound With Ozone Nano-Bubbles, Janitha Hewa Batagoda

Dissertations

The Passaic River is 129km long and flows through the northern New Jersey. During the mid-twentieth century, the U.S. census indicated that there were approximately 2,900 industries along the river bank. The amount of industries established next to the river indicated the inevitable river pollution, which was compounded by lenient environmental protection laws. One of the major contributors of the river pollution was Diamond Alkali Co., which started production of chemicals around 1951 at the 4km marker in the Passaic River.

In 1970, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) identified the Passaic River as the second most polluted …

A Methodological Framework For Quantifying Impacts Of Truck Traffic On Regional Network With Implications To Transport Policy, Chaitanya Narendra Pathak

Dissertations

Increased global trade has promoted the importance of shipping industry and the introduction of mega-ships has created an opportunity to be more cost-effective. Because of this, the expected change in freight transportation influences the operating regimes and schedules at the port terminals. Trucks being the predominant mode of transportation used to carry the freight transport, there is a growing concern about the impact of trucks in the region. The problems are further expected to grow as the improvements to resolve them are hindered by funding shortfalls. Public agencies are therefore involved in developing comprehensive state freight plans that outline immediate …

Erosion Behavior And Scour Risk Of Extremely Coarse Streambeds, Abolfazl Bayat

Dissertations

Bridge scour, which is the erosion of soil and rock around bridge abutments and piers, is the principal cause of bridge failure in the United States and around the world. Previous investigations of scour have focused mostly on fine sediments such as sand, silt, and small gravel, because such alluvium underlies a majority of bridges. The erosion resistance of coarser sediments has received limited attention to date, even though they dominate many small to medium-size rivers in the northern tiers of the United States, Europe, and Asia. This study focuses on the scour behavior of extremely coarse particles (ECP), namely …

Seepage Monitoring And Diagnosis Of Distresses In An Earth Embankment Dam Using Probability Methods, Seyed Mohammad Reza Mousavian

Dissertations

Failure of embankment dams may result in catastrophic consequences. Considering seepage and internal erosion are accounted as one of the major causes of failure in earth embankment dams, it is essential to detect any concentrated seepage and sources of distress at early stages. A number of investigation and monitoring methods exist for the detection of seepage, with varying degrees of technological and implementation complexity. This research, focuses on the Electrical Resistivity Monitoring Method (ERM), and develops a condition assessment process that allows 1) the identification of potential seepage areas and progress through visual observation and flow measurement, and 2) the …

Long-Term Management And Condition Assessment Of Concrete Culvert, Zhenting Zou

Dissertations

Infrastructure is the backbone of national security, economic growth, public safety and other aspects of the society. Nationwide, the condition of America’s infrastructure was graded as “D+” by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in 2013.

Owners and responsible agencies have employed various cost-effective maintenance and repair methods as well as analytical tools to repair and extend the service life of the infrastructure. However, without a long-term plan, maintenance work can be delayed by lack of funds. Maintenance delay may cause significant reduction in condition state leading to premature failure of the infrastructure. Consequently, a long-term rehabilitation plan is …

Normal-Strength And High-Strength Concrete Columns Under Cyclic Axial Load And Biaxial Moment, Mehdi Zarei

Dissertations

The technique of using Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) materials to repair and strengthen various concrete members has become popular in the structural retrofitting field as an effective way to enhance the strength and ductility of concrete members due to its superior mechanical properties. In this study a method was introduced to study the behavior of concrete columns with and without CFRP jackets under constant axial load and variable lateral load. The lateral load was applied monotonically and cyclically. To predict the behavior of concrete columns under monotonic and cyclic compressive loadings, a computer code was developed to produce the …

Modeling Biodegradation Settlement Of Municipal Solid Waste (Msw) Based On Measurement Of Landfill Gas And Degradable Solids In Leachate Recirculated Bioreactors, Vatsal Atulkumar Shah

Dissertations

The purpose of this work is two-fold: 1) to understand the phenomenon of the biodegradation process of municipal solid waste (MSW) in leachate recirculated bioreactors, and 2) to create a realistic predictive model based on this understanding which is capable of supporting a laboratory-to-field relationship for bioreactor landfills. Biodegradation is best described by loss of mass; however, primary researchers have assumed the phenomenon to be purely volume loss and modeled best by mechanical processes using a conservation of energy approach. It is suggested that the phenomenon requires a fundamental understanding of biodegradation process which results in a loss of mass, …

Expert System For Energy Optimization Of Buildings Using Sustainable And Resilient Strategies, Victoria Ann Scala

Dissertations

An expert system is developed using the science of heuristics to better model energy usage in existing commercial buildings and to predict future improvements more accurately. The software performs an initial audit analysis of all the major building systems including building envelope, HVAC, lighting, office equipment and appliances, water and hot water, and waste handling. A novel feature of the expert system is that it analyzes energy flow within the building more interactively and cohesively, as opposed to looking at each system individually as do most energy analysis tools on the current market. Both forward and backward chaining strategies are …

An Innovative Protective Jacket For Structures Subject To Blast Loads: A Comprehensive Experimental And Simulation Study, Nicholas J. Carlson

Dissertations

As the importance of protective engineering and multi-hazard mitigation design has grown in recent years, the development of an effective structural protection system that aids in the preservation of life safety during blast events is an important topic of research in structural engineering. This protection is especially vital for blast and explosion mitigation, where a vehicle-borne bomb or an improvised explosive device can readily cause an under-designed structure with insufficient redundancy to undergo progressive collapse due to the removal of its first-floor columns. An especially pressing research need is the consideration of structures that require blast protection, but—due to time …

Driver Injury Severity At U.S. Highway-Rail Crossings, Wei Hao

Dissertations

There are approximately 240,000 highway-rail grade crossings in the United States and highway-rail grade crossing areas have been considered in this study as these are locations where crashes frequently occur. Existing studies on crash models at highway- rail grade crossings can be classified into two categories: accident frequency prediction models and driver injury severity models. Accident frequency prediction at highway-rail grade crossings have been investigated by previous studies using varied statistical models. Few studies, however, have focused on driver injury severity studies. Three drawbacks will be addressed in this research including limitations in traditional highway- rail grade crossings studies, limited …

Dynamic Response Of Highway Bridges Under A Moving Truck And Development Of A Rational Serviceability Requirement, Shabnam Darjani

Dissertations

Through the development and usage of high-strength materials, the design of more flexible bridges is unavoidable. It is assumed that limiting a bridge static deflection would control the excessive vibration caused by more flexible design. However, results of prior studies indicate that deflection limits do not necessarily address bridges vibrational issue.

This dissertation addresses the parameters affecting bridge vibration and provides simple equations to compute bridge dynamic acceleration, velocity and displacement in both transient and steady state parts of the vibration. These equations can then be used to control bridges excessive vibration; and provide human comfort and structural performance.

A …

Micromechanical Study Of Two-Phase Flow During Air Sparging, Shengyan Gao

Dissertations

Air sparging (AS) is an in-situ soil/groundwater remediation technology, which involves the injection of pressurized air/oxygen through an air sparging well below the region of contamination. The efficiency of the in-situ sparging system is mainly controlled by the extent of contact between injected air and contaminated soil and pore fluid. Hence, characterizing the mechanisms governing movement of air through saturated porous media is therefore critical to the design of an effective cleanup treatment. However, in spite of the success of air sparging as a remediation technique for the clean-up of contaminated soils, to date, the fundamental mechanisms or the physics …

Risk Based Models For The Optimization Of Oil And Gas Supply Chain Critical Infrastructure, Kingsley Oseloka Achebe

Dissertations

The oil and gas sector faces a broad array of risks and uncertainties, affecting short- and long-term planning, and causing adverse effects in the energy sector. To predict and minimize them, risk based supply chain models were developed for the oil and gas supply chain critical infrastructure.

First, the events and activities were categorized as short term and long term, and their risk ratings derived, by analyzing data from past events and site visits. The result showed that events like the Israel – Arab war, successful hurricane, and production increase or decrease, had a risk rating of approximately 7.

Second, …

Application Of Mass/Stiffness Eccentricity To Control Response Of Structures Subjected To Earthquake Ground Motion, Bakhtiar Feizi

Dissertations

This dissertation is driven by the concept that engaging more modes in the response of structures can be used to mitigate its translational dynamic response. One such an approach is to engage torsional modes through engineered eccentricity (mass/stiffness eccentricity), thus, introducing coupled translation-rotation response. This idea was first introduced in a paper published by MacBain and Spillers in 2004. As a follow up to the same idea this dissertation was an attempt to investigate and develop the theory concerning the application of mass/stiffness eccentricity to control the translational motion of structures subjected to earthquake ground motion.

Different discrete and continuous …