Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Design Of Efficient Carbon-Based Adsorbents For The Removal Of Organic And Inorganic Water Contaminants, Sayedeh Soroosh Mortazavian Dehkordi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Granular activated carbon (AC) and biochar (BC) are two carbon-based adsorbents commonly used for water and wastewater treatment. However, these adsorbents have drawbacks that suppress their aqueous contaminants removal efficiency. Their major disadvantages are that AC has low selectivity and reusability potential, and BC has a hydrophobic nature.

The scope of this dissertation is to enhance the performance of commonly-used carbon-based adsorbents for the removal of organic and inorganic water contaminants and to understand the interactive mechanism of contaminants’ ions/molecules with adsorbents. Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) and trichloroethylene (TCE) are two types of inorganic and organic water contaminants, respectively, which are …

Numerical And Semi-Analytical Estimation Of Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient For Buildings In An Urban-Like Setting, Anwar Demsis Awol

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Urban building arrangements such as packing density, orientation and size are known to influence the microclimate surrounding each building. Studies on the impact of urban microclimatic changes on convective heat transfer coefficient (CHTC) from a stock of buildings, however, have been rare in surveyed literature. The present study focuses on numerical and analytical investigation of CHTC from building-like models with homogeneous set of equal and unequal planar and frontal densities. Consequently, the study discusses the CHTC response in relation to broader changes in the urban surface form. Part of the process involves the development of a simplified one-dimensional semi-analytical CHTC …

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Fall 2019, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition Projects

Part of every UNLV engineering student’s academic experience, the senior design project stimulates engineering innovation and entrepreneurship. Each student in their senior year chooses, plans, designs, and prototypes a product in this required element of the curriculum. A capstone to the student’s educational career, the senior design project encourages the student to use everything learned in the engineering program to create a practical, real world solution to an engineering challenge. The senior design competition helps focus the senior students in increasing the quality and potential for commercial application for their design projects. Judges from local industry evaluate the projects on …

Static Analysis Of Circular Plates Under Mechanical Loads, Harpreet Lalia

Publications and Research

In this research statics analysis of circular plates is performed using SolidWorks.

Circular plates with different material properties, thickness to radius ratios, and boundary conditions under mechanical loads are modeled and analyzed in SolidWorks.

The results are obtained for deflections of circular plates under uniform and point loads.

A three-dimensional (3D) model of circular plates is first created in SolidWorks. Then the material properties, mechanical loads and boundary conditions are defined for the plate.

It is found deflection of plates is depended on magnitude of mechanical loads, geometrical parameters, boundary conditions and material properties. Responses of SolidWorks for deflections of …

Influence Of Nh4f In Dextran Based Biopolymer Electrolytes: Conductivity And Electrical Analysis, Muhamad Hafiz Hamsan, Mohd Fakhrul Zamani Kadir, Shujahadeen Bakar Aziz, Muhammad Amirul Solihin Azha, Saifful Kamaluddin Muzakir

Makara Journal of Technology

Dextran polymer host was doped with different concentrations of ammonium fluoride (NH4F) via casting technique. In this present work, dextran-NH4F film has been employed to investigate the ionic conductivity using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy from 50 to 5 MHz. The highest room temperature conductivity is achieved at (2.33 ± 0.76) × 10-3 S cm-1 with 40 wt.% NH4F. The electrolyte is found to obey Arrhenius rule at high temperature with activation energy of 0.21 eV. Dielectric analysis has been performed to obtain better understanding on the conductivity pattern. The dielectric parameters e.g. ɛreal, ɛimag, Mreal, and Mimag have been tested as …

Acute Toxicitystudy Of Choline Based Ionic Liquids Towards Danio Rerio Fish And The Aggregation Behavior Of Their Binary Mixtures, Mansoor Ul Hassan Shah, Nasruddin Nasruddin, Suzana Bt Yusup, Muhammad Moniruzzaman

Makara Journal of Technology

Marine oil spills are effectively controlled by chemical dispersants. However, the toxicity associated with it reduce its employment in marine environment. To overcome this limitation, the acute toxicity of choline based ionic liquids was evaluated as a potential low toxic variant for oil spill remediation. Further, the aggregation behavior of the individual as well as their binary mixtures was also evaluated by employing tensiometry technique. The half-lethal concentration, LC50on zebrafish (Danio rerio) of three choline based ionic liquids showed that the studied ionic liquids (ILs) fall in the range of “practically nontoxic” ( 100-1000 mg L-1).Various micellar properties showed that …

Study On Antibacterial Of Chitosan/Hydroxyapatite Doped Magnesium Composite As A Material For Bone Graft Applications, Andromeda Dwi Laksono, Teodoro A. Amatosa, Jr., Hilda Pebrianti Octaviana Sitorus, Wentika Putri Kusuma Asih, Sulistijono Sulistijono

Makara Journal of Technology

Hydroxyapatite (HAp) is one of the constituent minerals of bone and teeth, that has been widely used for synthesizing bone graft. Due to the limitation on properties of the hydroxyapatite, it is doping with Magnesium (HAp-Mg). The addition of Chitosan (Chi) was expected to improve the antibacterial properties of HAp-Mg. The present research aims to study the influence of Chitosan with 0, 5, 15, and 25 wt% addition on biocompatibility properties of Chi/HAp-Mg composite. HAp-Mg was synthesized using the sol-gel method; meanwhile, Chi/HAp-Mg composite was manufactured by mixing Chitosan in acetic acid, and HAp-Mg was added into the mixture. The …

Comprehensive Inspection On The Experimental Ferritic Stainless Steel By Means Of Transmission Electron Microscopy And Neutron Diffraction Techniques, Parikin Parikin, Mohammad Dani, Riza Iskandar, Aziz Khan Jahja, Andon Insani, Joachim Mayer

Makara Journal of Technology

The field of physical metallurgy is one of the primary beacons that guide alloy developments for multipurpose materials such as the in-core structure materials for pressure vessel components and heat exchangers. The surface microstructure of new ferritic steel with significant local constituent materials was characterized by high resolution powder neutron diffractometer (HRPD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM), combined with the energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The alloy contains73% Fe, 24% Cr, 2% Si, 0.8% Mn, and 0.1% Ni, in %wt. The charge materials were melted by the casting techniques. The neutron diffractograms obtained shows five dominant diffraction peaks at (110), …

Evaluation Of Primal-Dual Splitting Algorithm For Mri Reconstruction Using Spatio-Temporal Structure Tensor And L1-2 Norm, Mia Rizkinia, Masahiro Okuda

Makara Journal of Technology

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an essential medical imaging technique which is widely used for medical research and diagnosis. Dynamic MRI provides the observed object visualization through time and results in a spatiotemporal signal. The image sequences often contain redundant information in both spatial and temporal domains. To utilize this characteristic, we propose a spatio-temporal reconstruction approach based on compressive sensing theory. We apply spatio-temporal structure tensor using nuclear norm, in addition to the wavelet sparsity regularization. The spatio-temporal structure tensor is a matrix that consists of gradient components of the MRI data w.r.t the spatial and temporal domains. For …

A New Synthesized Microalloys Steel Ods Of High Amplitude Ultrasonically Irradiation, Marzuki Silalahi, Hanif Abdurrahman Wicaksana, Ferhat Aziz, Syahfandi Ahda, Mohamad Riza Iskandar

Makara Journal of Technology

Micropowders of oxide-dispersion-strengthened (ODS) steel have been synthesized using the ultrasonic irradiation method with variations in amplitude. The ultrasonic irradiation process is performed for 50 h at a frequency of 20 kHz with 40%, 50%, and 60% amplitudes in toluene solution. The formation of Fe-Cr microalloys in the preparation of Fe- 15Cr-0.5Y2O3 powder was analyzed using SEM-EDS, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and TEM-EDS. The percentage of Fe- Cr phase mass fraction of ODS steel micropowder formed during ultrasonic irradiation with 40%:50%:60% amplitude was 12.2%:34.1%:22.1%, with 25.67:77.02:38.51 nm crystallite size. The crystallite size at 50% amplitude was the largest, and the diffusion …

Neutron Diffraction Study Of Multiferroic 0.6nife2o4/0.4batio3 Composite, Engkir Sukirman, Yosef Sarwanto, Syahfandi Ahda, Andon Insani

Makara Journal of Technology

Neutron diffraction study on the 0.6NiFe2O4/0.4BaTiO3 multiferroic composite has been carried out. The 0.6NiFe2O4/0.4BaTiO3 multiferroic composites have been synthesized by solid reaction method. In this study, 20 g of BaTiO3 (BTO) and 20 g of NiFe2O4 (NFO) compounds were prepared from the powder raw materials of BaO3 and TiO2 for BTO, and NiO and Fe2O3 for NFO. Furthermore, both BTO and NFO were each crushed for 5 hours using High Energy Milling (HEM). Then the BTO and NFO were calcined in the furnace at 950 °C/5 hours and 900 °C/5 hours, respectively. Both NFO and BTO precursors were manually mixed …

Multiscale Modeling Of Fracture In Quasi-Brittle Materials Using Bifurcation Analysis And Element Elimination Method, Keyvan Zare Rami

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Analyzing the fracture of heterogeneous materials is a complex problem, due to the fact that the mechanical behavior of a heterogeneous material is strongly dependent on a variety of factors, such as its microstructure, the properties of each constituent, and interactions between them. Therefore, these factors must be effectively taken into account for accurate analysis, for which the multiscale method has been widely used. In this scheme, the computational homogenization method is used to obtain the effective macroscopic properties of a heterogeneous material based on the response of a Representative Volume Element (RVE). The growth of damage in an RVE …

Thermodynamic Model Of Co2 Deposition In Cold Climates, Sandra K. S. Boetcher, Ted Von Hippel, Matthew J. Traum

Publications

A thermodynamic model, borrowing ideas from psychrometric principles, of a cryogenic direct-air CO2-capture system utilizing a precooler is used to estimate the optimal CO2 removal fraction to minimize energy input per tonne of CO2. Energy costs to operate the system scale almost linearly with the temperature drop between the ingested air and the cryogenic desublimation temperature of CO2, driving siting to the coldest accessible locations. System performance in three Arctic/Antarctic regions where the proposed system can potentially be located is analyzed. Colder ambient temperatures provide colder system input air temperature yielding lower CO2 removal energy requirements. A case is also …

Model Block Press Design, Ben Todd Van Hamersveld, Chester Wong, Alexander Wing-Jon Giannousis

Mechanical Engineering

This project’s goal is to redesign the Center for Vocational Building Technology (CVBT) BP9 earth block press, which makes 1/3 scale compressed earth blocks to build demonstration model homes in Thailand. The full-scale block press, the BP6, provides a sustainable and affordable technique for constructing habitable homes in Thailand. The BP9 serves as a tool to inform the public of the advantages of human-powered earth block presses through demonstration. The BP9 press design has multiple problems: it is too expensive to manufacture, there is too much friction when used, it has several weak points due to users unintentionally applying excessive …

Application Of Survival Analysis Techniques To Probabilistic Assessment Of Fatigue In Steel Bridges, Azam Nabizadehdarabi

Theses and Dissertations

The fatigue of engineering materials under repetitive loading is a significant issue affecting the design and durability of components and systems in a variety of engineering-related applications including civil, mechanical, aerospace, automotive, and electronics. Many factors can affect the service life of a component or system under repetitive loading, such as the type of structure, loading, connection details, stress state, peak stress or stress range, surface condition, temperature, and environmental exposure. Currently, there is no comprehensive probabilistic approach that can systematically address all the factors that contribute to fatigue on a single mathematical platform. However, advanced analysis techniques developed for …

An Advanced Approach For Contract Time Determination In Highway Projects, Cuauhtemoc Torres Cantu

Theses and Dissertations

In project management, finishing a project on schedule is one of the most important aspects. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has been experiencing delays in some projects that can be accounted to an inaccurate project time estimation process. This research presents the development of a user-friendly and comprehensive computer-based contract time determination system. The enhanced system implements probabilistic scheduling techniques such as Program Evaluation and Review Technique, and Monte Carlo Simulation. Additionally, the application of a lognormal two-point PERT method is explored in this study. The new system proposes the use of a database of production rates based on …

Hvac System Energy Audit For Leverett Elementary School, Connor Smalling

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Leverett Elementary School is located in Fayetteville, AR. The school needs significant upgrades to its infrastructure. The Fayetteville Public School District has voted to pursue an Energy Services Performance Contract (ESPC) in order to finance the desired upgrades to Leverett Elementary, among other schools in the district.

The scope of this thesis was to perform an energy audit on the existing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system. By using an energy modeling software, eQuest, the building and the existing base system were modeled to determine utility consumption. Three different HVAC system alternatives were analyzed against the base system by …

Dual Degree Agreement For College Of Engineering With Tennessee Wesleyan, University Of Tennessee, Knoxville

SACSCOC Documentation

No abstract provided.

The Promise Of Vr Headsets: Validation Of A Virtual Reality Headset-Based Driving Simulator For Measuring Drivers’ Hazard Anticipation Performance, Ganesh Pai Mangalore

Masters Theses

The objective of the current study is to evaluate the use of virtual reality (VR) headsets to measure driving performance. This is desirable because they are several orders of magnitude less expensive and, if validated, could greatly extend the powers of simulation. Out of several possible measures of performance that could be considered for evaluating VR headsets, the current study specifically examines drivers’ latent hazard anticipation behavior both because it has been linked to crashes and because it has been shown to be significantly poorer in young drivers compared to their experienced counterparts in traditional driving simulators and in open …

Device For Imaging Cross-Section Of Post-Tensioned Structural Tendons In The Field, David Dukeman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With increasing use of grouted post-tensioned tendons in structures, there is a critical need for equipment to determine deficient grouting. Inadequate grouting can cause dangerous corrosion of the high-strength post-tensioning steel in the tendons. Evaluation should be non-destructive, and early detection is needed to take timely remedial actions to repair or replace any tendons that are affected before catastrophic failure occurs. In particular, there is need for an imaging method that shows the cross-section of the tendon being tested and flag any deficiencies present relative to the location of the strands in the cross section. The method should be rapid, …

Numerical Modeling Of Shoreline Response To Storm Tides And Sea Level Rise, Akash Sahu

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

In this study, an integrated hydrodynamic, wave, and sediment transport modeling approach is developed for predicting the spatiotemporal variation of erosion of a sandy shoreline due to storm surge, wave action, tidal variations, and relative sea level rise (RSLR). The study site is located at the northern most portion of the city of Norfolk, Virginia, and it is of importance to the city, both in terms of tourism and for the protection that it provides for upland properties against storms. The region, in general, experiences the highest rate of RSLR on the U.S. East Coast which should result in high …

Analytical Approach To Investigation Of Free Vibration Of Thin Rectangular Plate Immersed In Fluid, Resting On Winkler And Pasternak Foundations, Obanishola Sadiq, Gbeminiyi Sobamowo, Saheed Salawu

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Dynamic behaviour of free vibration of rectangular plate is investigated. This study considered an analytical approach to investigation of free vibration of thin rectangular plate immersed in fluid, resting on Winkler and Pasternak foundations.The governing nonlinear partial differential equation is analyzed using two-dimensional differential transform method. The accuracy of the analytical solutions obtained is verified with existing results in literature and confirmed in excellent agreement. Thereafter, the analytical solutions are used for investigation of effect of elastic foundation, fluid and aspect ratio on vibrating plate.From the result, it is observed that, increase elastic foundation parameters increases natural frequency, increase aspect …

Surface Kinetic Energy Distributions In The Global Oceans From A High-Resolution Numerical Model And Surface Drifter Observations, Xiaolong Yu, Aurelien Ponte, Shane Elipot, Dimitris Menemenlis, Edward Zaron, Ryan Abernathey

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The surface kinetic energy of a 1/48◦ global ocean simulation and its distribution as a function of frequency and location are compared with the one estimated from 15,329 globally distributed surface drifter observations at hourly resolution. These distributions follow similar patterns with a dominant low-frequency component and well-defined tidal and near-inertial peaks globally. Quantitative differences are identified with deficits of low-frequency energy near the equator (factor 2) and at near-inertial frequencies (factor 3) and an excess of energy at semidiurnal frequencies (factor 4) for the model. Owing to its hourly resolution and its near-global spatial coverage, the array of surface …

General Nonlinear-Material Elasticity In Classical One-Dimensional Solid Mechanics, Ronald Joseph Giardina Jr

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

We will create a class of generalized ellipses and explore their ability to define a distance on a space and generate continuous, periodic functions. Connections between these continuous, periodic functions and the generalizations of trigonometric functions known in the literature shall be established along with connections between these generalized ellipses and some spectrahedral projections onto the plane, more specifically the well-known multifocal ellipses. The superellipse, or Lam\'{e} curve, will be a special case of the generalized ellipse. Applications of these generalized ellipses shall be explored with regards to some one-dimensional systems of classical mechanics. We will adopt the Ramberg-Osgood relation …

Component Analysis And Antiangiogenic Activity Of Thailand Stingless Bee Propolis, Eriko Ishizu, Sari Honda, Tosihro Ohta, Boonyadist Vongsak, Shigenori Kumazawa

Makara Journal of Technology

Propolis is a natural resin produced by honey bees from certain plants, has gained popularity as a food and alternative medicine. However, to the best of our knowledge, few studies on native Thailand stingless bee propolis are available. Information on the chemical composition and biological activities of propolis is needed to investigate its potential utility. Recently we have reported the possible plant origin of Thailand stingless bee propolis, Garcinia mangostana. In this study, further component analysis, functional evaluation, and identification of the plant origin of Thailand stingless bee propolis are conducted. Nine xanthones, including α-mangostin, garcinone C, γ-mangostin, cochinchinone T, …

3d Fdtd Method For Modeling Of Seismo-Electromagnetics Disturbance On Crustal Earth, Nabila Husna Shabrina, Yasuhide Hobara, Achmad Munir

Makara Journal of Technology

The paper deals with the modelling of seismo-electromagnetics disturbance on the crustal earth by use of threedimensional (3D) finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The model is built up by discretizing the frontier geographical region between Java Island and Sumatra Island in a cylindrical coordinate system-based 3D object. The proposed method is applied to compute and analyze electromagnetics (EM) fields of the observed very low frequency (VLF) wave used for the investigation. Boundary condition of uniaxial perfectly matched layer (UPML) are applied surrounding the area of computation for truncating the object of simulation. The investigation are focused on the propagation time of …

Experimental Evaluation Of Three Different Humidity Conditions To Physical And Mechanical Properties Of Three Different Mixtures Of Unfired Soil Bricks, Heru Purnomo, Srikandi Wahyu Arini

Makara Journal of Technology

Unfired brick is considered as a more environmentally friendly material than fired brick. It has lower mechanical properties than that of fired brick where humidity influences both bricks. Physical and mechanical properties of unfired bricks made of three kinds of mixtures were studied experimentally under three humidity conditions. The first kind of unfired brick was made only with soil and water while the second type was made of a mixture of soil, water and lime, and the third type was a mixture of soil, water, lime and uniform treated coir where 4% of lime mass was substituted with coir mass. …

Adsorption Of Heavy Metal Ions By Oil Palm Decanter Cake Activated Carbon, Mohd. Ezreeza Mohamed Yusoff, Juferi Idris, Nahrul Hayawin Zainal, Mohamad Faizal Ibrahim, Suraini Abd-Aziz

Makara Journal of Technology

Adsorption processes are widely used for the removal of heavy metals from waste streams. Oil palm decanter cake (OPDC) is used as a bioadsorbent because of its compositional properties for activated carbon production; moreover, it is a readily available raw material produced in palm oil mills and is thus abundant and cheap. In this study, the OPDC was carbonized at 700 °C and activated using steam at 700 °C to produce oil palm decanter cake activated carbon (AC-OPDC). Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to compare the adsorption capacities of the raw OPDC and the AC-OPDC for heavy metals removal. …

A Study Of The Electron Regeneration Efficiency Of Solar Cells Fabricated Using Cmc/Pva-, Alginate-, And Xanthan-Based Electrolytes, Nur Farha Shaafi, Saifful Kamaluddin Muzakir, Bouchta Sahraoui

Makara Journal of Technology

A photovoltaic (PV) mechanism consists of three important steps, i.e., (i) electron excitation upon absorption of photon with energy higher than the bandgap of fluorophore, (ii) excited-state electron injection from the fluorophore to the pho-toelectrode, and (iii) electron regeneration from the electrolyte to the fluorophore. An efficient electron regeneration could be achieved upon fulfillment of the requirements of energy alignment, i.e., lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of fluorophore (LUMOfluorophore) > redox potential of electrolyte > highest occupied molecular orbital of fluorophore (HOMOfluorophore). This study investigated the electron regeneration efficiency of excitonic solar cells fabricated using three polymer-based electrolytes, i.e., (i) 60% carboxymethyl cellulose …

Study Of Ecological Design Of Residential Complexes Using Spss To Elevate Resident Satisfaction, Soheil Malekpour Kolbadinejad, V. Malekpour Ravasjan, A. Darvish

Makara Journal of Technology

This article reports the general residential satisfaction, affecting ecological factors, and their importance in area in Tehran. The collected field data was analyzed using SPSS. Cronbach's alpha variable was used to determine the reliability of the questionnaire and the Friedman test was used to assess priorities that influence residential satisfaction. The results show that the quality of residential environments and general satisfaction of their residents may be enhanced by identifying these criteria and making appropriate plans for their improvement.