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Full-Text Articles in Civil and Environmental Engineering

Harnessing Wastewater For Renewable Energy (2013-2), Aaron Adalja, Chalida U-Tapao Nov 2017

Harnessing Wastewater For Renewable Energy (2013-2), Aaron Adalja, Chalida U-Tapao

Aaron Adalja

This case study explores the options for using wastewater to produce renewable energy in the context of a public wastewater treatment plant. It provides an opportunity for students to synthesize knowledge from resource economics, engineering, environmental science, agriculture, and public policy to develop a transdisciplinary approach to a socio-environmental issue. The case is designed for upper division undergraduate courses in resource economics or environmental engineering, but several modifications are provided graduate course applications. Students assume the role of a newly hired analyst at a consulting firm in Washington, DC, that specializes in renewable energy solutions. They are charged with proposing …


Experimental Validation Of Multistep Quantitative Crack Damage Assessment For Truss Structures By Finite Element Model Updating, Soon Lee, Gunjin Yun, Mohammad Rahimi, Shen Shang Oct 2015

Experimental Validation Of Multistep Quantitative Crack Damage Assessment For Truss Structures By Finite Element Model Updating, Soon Lee, Gunjin Yun, Mohammad Rahimi, Shen Shang

Gunjin Yun

In this paper, a multistep damage quantification method has been experimentally validated by quantifying crack damage of load-carrying members of truss structures based on experimental vibration records. Damage quantifications are still challenging tasks for difficulties in interpreting response signals measured from engineering structures. Open crack depth is parameterized as a damage variable. The open crack in Euler–Bernoulli beam element is modeled by introducing local flexibility coefficients to the uncracked beam element with joint rotational flexibility. Mode shapes and natural frequencies measured from experimental modal testing of a damaged laboratory-size truss bridge are used in the finite element model updating for …


The Quasi-Static Deformation, Failure, And Fracture Behavior Of Titanium Alloy Gusset Plates Containing Bolt Holes, Therese Hurtuk, Craig Menzemer, Anil Patnaik, Tirumalai Srivatsan, Kannan Manigandan, T. Quick Oct 2015

The Quasi-Static Deformation, Failure, And Fracture Behavior Of Titanium Alloy Gusset Plates Containing Bolt Holes, Therese Hurtuk, Craig Menzemer, Anil Patnaik, Tirumalai Srivatsan, Kannan Manigandan, T. Quick

Craig Menzemer

In this article, the influence of bolt holes, specifically their number and layout on strength, deformation, and final fracture behavior of titanium alloy gusset plates under the influence of an external load is presented and discussed. Several plates having differences in both the number and layout of the bolt holes were precision machined and then deformed under quasi-static loading. The specific influence of number of bolt holes and their layout on maximum load-carrying capability and even fracture load was determined. The conjoint influence of bolt number, bolt layout pattern, nature of loading, contribution from local stress concentration, and intrinsic microstructural …


The Bolt Bearing Response And Tensile Deformation Capacity Of Plates Made From A Titanium Alloy, Nicholas Tinl, Craig Menzemer, Anil Patnaik, Tirumalai Srivatsan Oct 2015

The Bolt Bearing Response And Tensile Deformation Capacity Of Plates Made From A Titanium Alloy, Nicholas Tinl, Craig Menzemer, Anil Patnaik, Tirumalai Srivatsan

Craig Menzemer

In this article, the bearing capacity and elongation characteristics of bolt holes in a titanium alloy (i.e., Ti-6Al-4V) deformed in uniaxial tension is presented and discussed. The specific role played by bolt hole confinement on bearing capacity is highlighted. The nature of final fracture is examined and the intrinsic features present on the fracture surface are rationalized in concurrence with macroscopic mechanical response. The behavior of the candidate alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) is compared with conventionally preferred and chosen candidate materials steel and aluminum alloys. An empirical relationship suitable for purpose of structural design is proposed.


Understanding The Mechanical Response Of Built-Up Welded Beams Made From Commercially Pure Titanium And A Titanium Alloy, Anil Patnaik, Narendra Poondla, Craig Menzemer, Tirumalai Srivatsan Oct 2015

Understanding The Mechanical Response Of Built-Up Welded Beams Made From Commercially Pure Titanium And A Titanium Alloy, Anil Patnaik, Narendra Poondla, Craig Menzemer, Tirumalai Srivatsan

Craig Menzemer

During the last two decades, titanium has gradually grown in stature, strength and significance to take on the recognition of being a modern and high performance metal that is noticeably stronger and concurrently lighter than the most widely chosen and used steels in a spectrum of industrial applications. Technological innovations have necessitated reduction of part weight, cost and lead time, including concurrent enhancement of performance of structural parts and components made using titanium and its alloys. This has provided the impetus to develop economically viable structural design methodologies and specifications, while at the same time bringing forth innovative and economically …


Isolating Corrosion Of Steel Plates Coupled With Titanium, Anil Patnaik, X. Shan, M. Adams, T. Srivatsan, Craig Menzemer, Joe Payer Oct 2015

Isolating Corrosion Of Steel Plates Coupled With Titanium, Anil Patnaik, X. Shan, M. Adams, T. Srivatsan, Craig Menzemer, Joe Payer

Craig Menzemer

Over twenty six percent of the bridges in the United States are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Corrosion of steel used in structures like bridges and buildings is a problem that has gained increased interest and focused concern. Steel is often the metal that is preferred for use in such applications due to a synergism of ease of availability, acceptable mechanical properties and cost effectiveness. Through the years, titanium has grown in strength, stature and significance to be recognized as an emerging high performance metal that is both stronger and lighter than steel. A distinctive property of titanium and its …


Infuence Of Welding And Heat Treatment On Microstructure, Properties And Fracture Behaviour Of A Wrought Aluminium Alloy, Eric Hilty, Craig Menzemer, Kannan Manigandan, Tirumalai Srivatsan Oct 2015

Infuence Of Welding And Heat Treatment On Microstructure, Properties And Fracture Behaviour Of A Wrought Aluminium Alloy, Eric Hilty, Craig Menzemer, Kannan Manigandan, Tirumalai Srivatsan

Craig Menzemer

Welding of aluminium alloy, belonging to the 6XXX series, exerts an adverse influence on its strength. The loss of strength immediately adjacent to the welds can have an influence on overall behaviour of the structure or component. In this study, the technique of gas metal arc welding was used. The filler material used was a silicon-containing aluminium alloy. Subsequent to welding, the alloy (6061-T4) was subjected to post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) at 185°C for 6 h. Both the as-welded and artificially aged extrusions of aluminium alloy 6061 were examined for both microstructural development and resultant influence on mechanical properties. Light …


Electric-Elastic Field Induced By A Straight Dislocation In One-Dimensional Quasicrystals, L. Z. Yang, Y. Gao, Ernian Pan, Natalie P. Waksmansk Aug 2015

Electric-Elastic Field Induced By A Straight Dislocation In One-Dimensional Quasicrystals, L. Z. Yang, Y. Gao, Ernian Pan, Natalie P. Waksmansk

Ernian Pan

By using the generalized Stroh formalism, the electric-elastic field induced by a straight dislocation parallel to a periodic axis of a one-dimensional quasicrystal is obtained. The derivation is concise and the solution is in an exact closed form. As an illustration, the electric-elastic fields around a straight dislocation in a one-dimensional hexagonal quasicrystal are studied. Besides the interesting numerical results presented, the generalized Stroh formalism can be applied to more complicated dislocation problems in quasicrystals


Closure To “Analysis And Design Method For Slope Stabilization Using A Row Of Drilled Shafts, Robert Liang, Arash Joorabchi, Lin Li Aug 2015

Closure To “Analysis And Design Method For Slope Stabilization Using A Row Of Drilled Shafts, Robert Liang, Arash Joorabchi, Lin Li

Robert Y. Liang

No abstract provided.


Extrinsic Influence Of Environment On The Corrosion Behaviour Of Enamel-Coated Steel Dowel Bars, Srikanth Bajaj, Anil Patnaik, Joe Payer, Robert Liang, Kannan Manigandan, Tirumalai Srivatsan Aug 2015

Extrinsic Influence Of Environment On The Corrosion Behaviour Of Enamel-Coated Steel Dowel Bars, Srikanth Bajaj, Anil Patnaik, Joe Payer, Robert Liang, Kannan Manigandan, Tirumalai Srivatsan

Robert Y. Liang

A new type of enamel coated dowel bars for use as concrete pavements has been recently developed and implemented. A gradual deterioration of such bars can occur due to corrosion occurring at locations of the fine microscopic cracks and other defects in the coating. The results of a study aimed at evaluating and understanding the corrosion resistance of such dowel bars is presented and comparisons made with corresponding epoxy-coated dowel bars. Identical defects were introduced onto the surface of the dowel bars with the two types of coatings. The extrinsic influence of environment and resultant corrosion based on type, location …


A Clustering Based Method To Evaluate Soil Corrosivity For Pipeline External Integrity Management, Ayako Yajima, Hui Wang, Robert Liang, Homero Castaneda Aug 2015

A Clustering Based Method To Evaluate Soil Corrosivity For Pipeline External Integrity Management, Ayako Yajima, Hui Wang, Robert Liang, Homero Castaneda

Robert Y. Liang

One important category of transportation infrastructure is underground pipelines. Corrosion of these buried pipeline systems may cause pipeline failures with the attendant hazards of property loss and fatalities. Therefore, developing the capability to estimate the soil corrosivity is important for designing and preserving materials and for risk assessment. The deterioration rate of metal is highly influenced by the physicochemical characteristics of a material and the environment of its surroundings. In this study, the field data obtained from the southeast region of Mexico was examined using various data mining techniques to determine the usefulness of these techniques for clustering soil corrosivity …


Bayesian Modeling Of External Corrosion In Underground Pipelines Based On The Integration Of Markov Chain Monte Carlo Techniques And Clustered Inspection Data, Hui Wang, Ayako Yajima, Robert Liang, Homero Castaneda Aug 2015

Bayesian Modeling Of External Corrosion In Underground Pipelines Based On The Integration Of Markov Chain Monte Carlo Techniques And Clustered Inspection Data, Hui Wang, Ayako Yajima, Robert Liang, Homero Castaneda

Robert Y. Liang

In this study, a model is developed to assess external corrosion in buried pipelines based on the unification of Bayesian inferential structure derived from Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques using clustered inspection data. This proposed stochastic model combines clustering algorithms that can ascertain the similarity of corrosion defects and Monte Carlo simulation that can give an accurate probability density function estimation of the corrosion rate. The metal loss rate is chosen as the indicator of corrosion damage propagation, obeying a generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution. Bayesian theory was employed to update the probability distribution of metal loss rate as well …


Extrinsic Influence Of Environment On The Corrosion Behavior Of Enamel-Coated Steel Dowel Bars, Srikanth Bajaj, Anil Patnaik, Joe Payer, Robert Liang, K. Manigandan, Tirumalai Srivatsan Aug 2015

Extrinsic Influence Of Environment On The Corrosion Behavior Of Enamel-Coated Steel Dowel Bars, Srikanth Bajaj, Anil Patnaik, Joe Payer, Robert Liang, K. Manigandan, Tirumalai Srivatsan

Robert Y. Liang

A new type of enamel coated dowel bars for use as concrete pavements has been recently developed and implemented. A gradual deterioration of such bars can occur due to corrosion occurring at locations of the fine microscopic cracks and other defects in the coating. The results of a study aimed at evaluating and understanding the corrosion resistance of such dowel bars is presented and comparisons made with corresponding epoxy-coated dowel bars. Identical defects were introduced onto the surface of the dowel bars with the two types of coatings. The extrinsic influence of environment and resultant corrosion based on type, location …


Importance Sampling Based Algorithm For Efficient Reliability Analysis Of Axially Loaded Piles, Haijian Fan, Robert Liang Aug 2015

Importance Sampling Based Algorithm For Efficient Reliability Analysis Of Axially Loaded Piles, Haijian Fan, Robert Liang

Robert Y. Liang

In reliability analysis, the crude Monte Carlo method is known to be computationally demanding. To improve computational efficiency, this paper presents an importance sampling based algorithm that can be applied to conduct efficient reliability evaluation for axially loaded piles. The spatial variability of soil properties along the pile length is considered by random field modeling, in which a mean, a variance, and a correlation length are used to statistically characterize a random field. The local averaging subdivision technique is employed to generate random fields. In each realization, the random fields are used as inputs to the well-established load transfer method …


System Reliability Analysis For Anchor-Stabilised Slopes Considering Stochastic Corrosion Of Anchors, Lin Li, Robert Liang, Hanlong Liu Aug 2015

System Reliability Analysis For Anchor-Stabilised Slopes Considering Stochastic Corrosion Of Anchors, Lin Li, Robert Liang, Hanlong Liu

Robert Y. Liang

In this paper, a methodology using Monte Carlo simulation method was developed in conjunction with the modified limiting equilibrium method of slices. Additionally, the time-dependent deterioration of bond capacity of corroding soil anchors was developed in this methodology due to the attack of chlorides. Uncertainties of anchor-related variables and soil parameters were considered using pertinent statistical descriptors. Furthermore, the inherent stochastic nature of the corrosion and degradation process for the anchor/slope system was identified and incorporated in the simulation. A PC-based software, C-UASLOPE, has been coded to allow for handling of complex slope geometry, soil profile and groundwater conditions. An …


Laboratory For Structural Testing Of Resilient And Sustainable Systems (Stress Laboratory), Jerome F. Hajjar, Burcu Guldur, A. H. Sesen Apr 2012

Laboratory For Structural Testing Of Resilient And Sustainable Systems (Stress Laboratory), Jerome F. Hajjar, Burcu Guldur, A. H. Sesen

Jerome F. Hajjar

This report summarizes the features and specifications for the Laboratory for Structural Testing of Resilient and Sustainable Systems (STReSS Laboratory). The laboratory was constructed as part of the George J. Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security on the Burlington Campus of Northeastern University. The laboratory is used for coupled experimental, computational, and field investigations across several disciplines of civil engineering, mechanical engineering, engineering mechanics, biomechanics, materials science, architecture, and related fields. Drawings of the facility and ancillary test results from the construction of the strong floor are included in appendices.