Engineering Commons^™

Stability Analysis Of Single And Double Steel Girders During Construction, Sean Justin Coffelt

Masters Theses

Built-up steel I-girders are very commonly used in bridge construction. Their spans are typically very long, and they are susceptible to lateral torsional buckling if not enough lateral support is provided. This thesis includes guidelines for preventing lateral torsional buckling of steel I-girders under dead and wind load, accompanied with finite element analysis of double girder systems. The first portion includes capacity envelopes for single girders with single and double symmetric cross sections under various loading conditions and boundary conditions for double and single symmetric cross sections with double girders subjected to dead loads only. The second portion is dedicated …

Streamflow Reconstructions In The Tennessee Valley Using Tree-Ring Chronologies, Ross William Ogle

Masters Theses

Tennessee Valley surface water is important to economic and population growth in the southeastern United States. By expanding streamflow records, water planners and managers can make decisions based on hydrologic events not appearing in current instrumental records. In the following research, monthly flow data from six USGS streamflow gages on the Clinch, Emory, Holston, and Nolichucky Rivers is used to create seasonal and annual streamflow seasons. Approximately 70 tree-ring chronologies across the Southeast U.S. are prescreened by length and correlation analysis against 38 streamflow seasons revealing that the May-June-July (MJJ) streamflow period displays the best tree-ring climate signal. The screened …

Stormwater Best Management Practices: Improvement And Evaluation, Brent Steven Pilon

Masters Theses

Each of the studies conducted herein is related to best management practices for stormwater pollutant removal. This thesis is divided into two chapters. Chapter One details the development and functionality of a novel stormwater detention pond outlet, the solid state skimmer. The device is a perforated riser having no moving parts that is capable of draining detention ponds primarily from the topmost orifices. We found that such a device is capable of reducing effluent turbidity and sediment concentrations compared to a traditional riser outlet. Chapter Two describes a water quality monitoring study performed to show that a pervious concrete detention …

Seismic Analysis Of Integral Abutment Bridges Considering Soil Structure Interaction, Reza Vasheghani Farahani

Masters Theses

Integral abutment bridges are jointless bridges in which the deck is continuous and connected monolithically with the abutment walls supported typically by a single row of piles. This thesis focuses on the effects of two major parameters on the seismic behavior of an integral abutment bridge in Tennessee by considering soil-structure interaction around the piles and in back of the abutments: (1) clay stiffness (medium vs. hard) around the piles, and (2) level of sand compaction (loose vs. dense) of the abutment wall backfilling. Modal and nonlinear time history analyses are performed on a three dimensional detailed bridge model using …

Wind River Range Snowpack Reconstruction Using Dendochronology And Sea Surface Temperatures, Sallyrose Anderson

Masters Theses

Multiple reconstructions of April 1st snow water equivalent (SWE) are generated for the Wind River Range (WRR), located in west-central Wyoming, to determine the most accurate predictors. Predictors included climate signal data (Southern Oscillation Index), traditional predictors (tree-ring chronologies), and non-spatially biased Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures (SSTs). Incorporation of Pacific Ocean SSTs as a whole provides a more comprehensive representation of oceanic-atmospheric variability. Rotated principal component analysis (PCA) was used to regionalize April 1st snowpack data (1961 – 1999) from snow telemetry stations (SNOTEL stations). Tree-ring chronologies that were stable across the period of overlapping records (1961 – 1999) …

Evaluation Of Moisture Damage In Warm Mix Asphalt Containing Recycled Asphalt Pavement, Emily D. Shrum

Masters Theses

Warm mix asphalt (WMA) has been used worldwide for many years, primarily in Europe. The National Asphalt Pavement Association first brought WMA to the United States in 2002. By using warm mix technology, the temperature of an asphalt mixture during production, transportation, and compaction decreases dramatically. Several concerns about WMA arise due to the reduced mixing temperature. One of the primary concerns in asphalt pavement is the moisture damage. The lower mixing temperature may not be high enough to vaporize all the moisture absorbed in the aggregate, and part of the moisture may be entrapped in the pavements during compaction. …

The Characteristics Of Underground Utility Repairs Made In Asphaltic Roadways – Comparing The Use Of Grade D Aggregate As A Viable Backfill Option, Susan Gail Deland

Masters Theses

Abstract

Given that most utilities are located beneath public right of ways, it is difficult to perform repairs to the utility without significantly disturbing the existing roadway. Currently there are several standard orders of procedure that deal with small-scale repairs on asphaltic surfaces. This study investigates the use of Grade D Aggregate as a backfill during a utility repair versus the condition of the repair. Five East Tennessee utilities provided a total of 60 utility repair locations over three years of age; 30 of which incorporated Grade D Aggregate and 30 incorporated #57 Stone.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation specifies …

Streamflow Reconstructions Of Southern Appalachian (North Carolina) Headwater Gages Using Tree Rings, James Tate Geren

Masters Theses

Tree rings have been used as a proxy in reconstructing streamflow in the western U.S. for many years, but few reconstructions have been attempted in the eastern United States. Clear limitations exist for streamflow reconstructions in the eastern U.S. compared to the western U.S., but value can be established as demonstrated in this research. The primary goal of this research was to reconstruct streamflow using data from five headwater gages in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. These gages are located on the Valley River, the Oconaluftee River, the Nantahala River, the Little Tennessee River, and the Watauga River. Tree-ring …

Increasing The Structural Engineer’S Influence Over Sustainability By Using Integrated Design Teams, Mary Elizabeth French

Masters Theses

Sustainability is quickly becoming a “buzz word” in today’s environmentally conscious world from political leaders to building professionals to design experts to consumers as they rethink their impact on current healthy, efficient indoor/outdoor environments as well as long term benefits to future generations.

This paper seeks to investigate ways to increase the structural engineer’s influence over the sustainability of the building industry by using integrated design teams. It explores current practices within the building industry, in particular the housing industry and the ways in which the integrated design team differs from most current practices. It strives to promote the positive …

Dynamic Characteristics Of An Frp Deck Bridge, Jing Song

Masters Theses

Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) deck has some significant advantages compared to concrete deck in use of bridges, such as light self-weight, high stiffness and strength, good durability and easy to install. FRP deck has already been used in some bridge rehabilitation and short span bridges. But for widely used in bridges, FRP deck bridges still need further research. Currently many research efforts focus on the filed tests of FRP deck bridges. Compared to field tests, Finite element analysis also has great advantages, such as low cost and convenient to conduct. Therefore, in this thesis finite element analysis is conducted by …

Behavior Of Precast Bridge Deck Joints With Small Bend Diameter U-Bars, Cheryl Elizabeth Chapman

Masters Theses

The Interstate Highway System plays a vital role in our economic development by providing a continuous corridor for transporting goods and services. Currently, there is a need for repair and expansion of the existing highways, which include all bridges along its path. Because of the high demand for the highway system, repair and expansion must occur rapidly and efficiently. In recent years, precast bridge deck systems have become an efficient way to reduce construction time during repair.

This thesis presents the experimental research of the behavior of the U-Bar joint detail used in precast bridge deck systems. This detail consists …

An Investigation For The Need Of Secondary Treatment Of Residential Wastewater When Applied With A Subsurface Drip Irrigation System, Boone S. Hillenbrand

Masters Theses

The objective of this study was to investigate the need for domestic wastewater to receive secondary treatment when being applied to the soil by subsurface drip irrigation (SDI). SDI uniformly distributes wastewater into the soil, which optimizes the soil’s chemical, physical, and biological capacity to remove waste constituents. Because of these advantages, many regulatory jurisdictions are allowing SDI at sites that previously were prohibited from using conventional trench-based soil application systems because of shallow soil restrictions. However, most of these regulatory agencies also require that the wastewater receives secondary treatment (dissolved organic carbon reduction) before the SDI system. At issue …

Georeferenced Riverine Habitat Mapping In The Big South Fork National River And Recreation Area, James Bryan Mcconkey

Masters Theses

Abstract

This project describes the development of a river habitat map of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (BISO NRRA) using GPS-based video mapping and image georeferencing techniques. The Big South Fork of the Cumberland River and major tributaries have been floated and mapped with GPS, sonar, and georeferenced under and above water video cameras. Video footage is interpreted for physical bedforms and compiled in an ArcGIS attribute table that can be queried for species specific habitat location.

Underwater video mapping system (UVMS) bedform data includes river characteristic (pool, riffle, run), substrate (bedrock, fines/sand, gravel, cobble, and …

Evaluation Of Liquefaction-Induced Lateral Spreading In The Midwest, Kermit Nathanial Applegate

Masters Theses

"The Central United States is home to several seismically active regions: the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone, the South Central Illinois Seismic Zone, and the New Madrid Seismic Zone. All three of these regions are capable of inducing large ground motion throughout the Mississippi Valley and along the eastern border of Missouri. This has been supported by many paleoseismic studies conducted throughout the region, which have identified numerous instances of liquefaction phenomena. The fluvial deposition process associated with the Mississippi river valley makes it a prime location for possible liquefaction and lateral spreading effects. However, there are few studies pertaining to …

Innovative Concrete Bridging Systems For Pedestrian Bridges: Implementation And Monitoring, Kurt Edward Bloch

Masters Theses

"Two precast, prestressed pedestrian bridges were designed for rapid construction in Rolla, MO, utilizing high-strength concrete (HSC) and high-strength self-consolidating concrete (HS-SCC) with a target 28 day compressive strength of 68.9 MPa (10,000 psi) and release compressive strength of 24.1 MPa (3,500 psi). In addition, a glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) bar reinforced deck panel system was utilized in one of the two deck panels on each bridge.

Material properties were tested for compression, elastic modulus, modulus of rupture, splitting tensile strength, creep, and shrinkage following ASTM standards. Instrumentation systems within the spandrel beams and precast deck panels were implemented …

Evaluation Of Variable Speed Limits Using A Genetic Algorithm Approach To Calibrate A Vissim Model, Brian Joseph Schaefer

Masters Theses

"The variable speed limit (VSL) system has been adopted on more and more roadways across the globe as an engineering tool for controlling traffic flow, particularly during congestion situations. An important and fundamental question raised among traffic engineers is: Are the costs of installing and operating variable speed limits really justified? In order to answer this question, this thesis measures the effectiveness of the VSL system applying the VISSIM microscopic simulation model to a non-recurrent congestion situation. For the analysis, a section of interstate was modeled in VISSIM and calibrated so that the simulated results closely reproduce the observed data …

Microalgal Bioremediation Of Nutrients In Wastewater And Carbon Dioxide In Flue Gas, Anand Murali Narasimhan

Masters Theses

"Microalgae are potential biofuel feedstocks that can provide solutions to the twin challenges of energy security and environmental pollution. They have great potential for the removal of excess nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater including the farm runoff. They can capture carbon dioxide in the flue gas from coal fired power plants thereby reducing greenhouse gas and also producing algal biomass, which can be converted into biofuel. In this study, the nutrient consumption of Scenedesmus algae was investigated in a batch culture and the biomass yield was determined. Algae were able to utilize carbon in the form of soluble carbonates which …

The Placement Of Remediation Amendments Into Contaminated Sediments Via Waterjet Technologies, Gavin Hunter Ray Risley

Masters Theses

"The use of amendments to perform in situ remediation of contaminated sediments is a technique that is relatively mature. The need exists to develop a method of amendment delivery that will efficiently place the amendments into the contaminated zone at depth with minimal impacts to the benthic communities and contaminant resuspension. Waterjets have been used for hundreds of years as an excavation, cutting, and cleaning tool, but they can also be used to inject remediation amendments into contaminated sediments if setup properly. In order to test this concept, a waterjet amendment injection system and nozzle have been developed and tested. …

Bayesian Approaches On Observational Before-After Highway Safety Analysis, Daxiao Liu

Masters Theses

"Observational before-after evaluation of roadway safety treatments effect is a necessary and challenging study area for traffic safety engineers. In decades, empirical Bayesian approach has been widely adopted among researchers in this area. In this approach, the researcher combined before period observation data with a safety performance function estimated from similar groups to estimate the expected number of crashes that would have occurred in the after period without the treatment. Comparing this estimate with the number of crashes observed in the after period, the researcher evaluated the effectiveness of the treatment. This approach accounts for well-known regression-to-the-mean effects. However, as …

Nonlinear Finite Element Formulation Of The Soil Structure Interaction Through Two Parameter Foundation Model, Taraka Ravi Shankar Mullapudi

Masters Theses

"The response of shallow and raft foundations is having a significant importance due to its complex behavior because of the semi-infinite soil media. Winkler's model is the simplest model to deal with the structure and soil. The Winkler model represents the foundation reaction as proportional to the soil displacement at a particular point, which results in the elasticity of the soil being the only parameter in consideration. But in reality the soil cohesiveness is having a significant contribution in soil structure interaction, and therefore the consideration of coupling effects of Winkler springs need to be accounted. Most of the existing …

Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polyurea Strengthening Of Reinforced Concrete, Courtney Elizabeth Greene

Masters Theses

"Wide varieties of concrete repair-retrofit and strengthening methods have been developed and are being widely implemented. In recent years, the need for such strengthening systems has become apparent with increasing demands on aging infrastructure. These strengthening systems need to be increasingly more adaptable, providing ease of construction as well as withstanding a variety of loading conditions and hazards. Exterior-applied fiber-reinforced polymer systems are increasingly being used to meet these demands. The research contained herein investigates the strengthening benefits and characteristics from a specific glass fiber-reinforced polyurea coating system applied externally to structures by means of spraying. This coating would allow …

Experimental And Modeling Comparison Of Modular Photovoltaic-Thermal Solar Panels, Nicole C. Annis

Masters Theses

"Three different prototype photovoltaic-thermal panels using water as the cooling fluid were tested simultaneously. The first two panels (Panel A and B) consisted of a highly conductive thermal sheeting and different sized copper tubing. The third panel (Panel C) consisted of copper tubing with an aluminum fin. Thermal images were used to verify the heat transfer across the panels and compare the amount of heat radiating off the back of the photovoltaic-thermal panels versus the standard photovoltaic paneleaf Three A type panels were thermally connected in series. Three photovoltaic panels were also tested for an electrical comparison. The purpose of …

Determining The R Values For 12 Inch Deep Z-Purlins And Girts With Through-Fastened Panels Under Suction Loading, Kaye Dee Wibbenmeyer

Masters Theses

"Designing purlins for roof systems attached to through-fastened panels has been a subject well researched in the past. The current design specification uses a simplified approach to the designing of these members where the fully braced moment capacity of such members is multiplied by a reduction factor, commonly referred to as the R-value. This value represents the point in between the fully braced and fully unbraced member behavior. However, the current AISI Specification, S100, only contains R-values for purlins and girts up to 11.5 inches in depth. Since manufacturers are now rolling sections up to 12 inches deep, two confirmatory …

Field Investigation Of Spalling In Bridge Decks With Partial-Depth Precast Concrete Panel Systems Using Non-Destructive Testing, Kandi Rebecca Wieberg

Masters Theses

"This study involved the investigation of the causes of spalling observed in several partial-depth precast prestressed bridge decks in the state of Missouri. Recently it has been observed that several bridges in Missouri with this type of construction have experienced spalling of concrete at the edges of the panels revealing an extreme condition of corrosion in the prestressing tendons, some to the point of rupture. Ground penetrating radar (GPR), which has been shown to be successful in bridge deck evaluation, was used to determine the relative condition of the prestressing tendons as well as the relative condition of the concrete …

Corrosion Resistance Of Enamel-Coated Steel Reinforcement For Concrete, Charles Robert Werner

Masters Theses

"Originally developed to enhance the bond between concrete and steel, reactive enamel coatings have shown great promise in protecting steel from corrosive environments. However, the corrosion resistance of the material has not yet been tested beyond 40 days. Moreover, when the material was tested, it was applied to smooth steel pins, not deformed steel bars which are commonly used in reinforced concrete structures. Therefore, this study focused on the corrosion resistance of three different enamel coatings, along with a standard epoxy coating, each of which were applied to both smooth and deformed steel bars and included both short-term and long-term …

Stability Of Streambanks Subjected To Highly Variable Streamflows: The Osage River Downstream Of Bagnell Dam, Kathryn Nicole Heinley

Masters Theses

"Streambank erosion of the Osage River downstream of Bagnell Dam is naturally-occurring; however, it may be significantly worsened due to releases made from the dam to generate hydropower. In this study, six typical outflow release patterns from Bagnell Dam were evaluated to determine their effects, if any, on the stability and the rate and amount of erosion of the banks of the Osage River.

The Bank Stability and Toe Erosion Model (BSTEM), version 5.2, was used to carry out the erosion and stability calculations. The model was validated by using data from another study and comparing the results from BSTEM …

Analysis Of Nationwide Intercity Travel Demand On The Us Transportation Network, Tao Li

Masters Theses

"In this thesis, three issues about the intercity travel demand on the US transportation network are addressed. The final one is the estimation of the domestic passengers' delay cost. A scheme is designed by assuming that costs incurred by flight delays relative to the original flight schedules are imposed at passengers' final destination airports. It is applied to estimate the total domestic delay cost of year 2007 and reasonable results arc obtained. The second one is the air travel demand estimation. Two route-based optimization models are proposed to estimate the travel demand based on available data. It is shown that …

Calibration Of Resistance Factors For Axial Capacity Of Driven Pile Into Missouri Soil, Mulugeta Abay Kebede

Masters Theses

"Over the past two decades the load resistance factor design (LRFD) has been accepted by the American Association for Transportation and Highway Officials (AASHTO) for the design of bridges. This approach is now gaining widespread popularity in the United States for substructure bridge design, including the design of driven pile foundations, as the states calibrate the geotechnical resistance factors for local geological conditions and practices. This study presents the geotechnical resistance factors calibrated for axially driven pile using the first-order reliability method (FORM) for the target reliability index of 2.33 and 3.0 based on 64 end-of-drives (EOD) and 22 beginning-of …

The Effectiveness Of The Natural Resource Conservation Service (Nrcs) And Huff Rainfall Distribution Methods For Use In Detention Basin Design, Todd Wayne Dablemont

Masters Theses

"This thesis focuses on the effectiveness of the NRCS and Huff rainfall distribution methods for use in detention basin design. This study required the use of HEC-HMS, hydrologic modeling software, in order to analyze the distribution methods. Three separate detention basins and their watersheds were modeled for this study. The watersheds were analyzed for both undeveloped and developed conditions. The parameters analyzed include detention basin inflow, detention basin outflow, watershed peak discharge, and detention basin storage capacity. The determination of detention basin effectiveness was based upon these parameters. The NRCS distribution method is widely used; however, many who use it …