Civil Engineering Commons^™

Safety Benefit Analysis Of Alternative Delineation Practices In Michigan, Brenda C. Burdick

Masters Theses

Among the many aspects of roadway design, one important system is roadway delineation. The main purposes of roadway delineation include regulating, warning, and guiding drivers in a safe manner. Delineation systems have the potential to reduce crashes. This research sought to perform safety benefit analysis of roadway delineation practices in Michigan. Through literature review, several delineation practices, selection criteria, and previously developed crash modification factors were researched. Even though several pavement marking materials have been implemented in Michigan, a safety benefit analysis of various materials had not been performed. Sites were selected, and pavement marking material inventory data were combined …

Application Of Wavelet Transform In Structural Health Monitoring, Yashodhya Swarna Sri Dhanapala Liyana Kankanamge

Masters Theses

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is a process of implementing a damage detection strategy in structures to evaluate the condition of existing structures to ensure the safety of users in the future. The changes in the material, geometric and/or structural properties affect structural responses, which can be captured and analyzed for condition assessment. Various vibration-based damage detection algorithms have been developed in the past decades. Among them, the Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) gained popularity as an efficient method of signal processing to build a framework to identify model properties and detect damage in structures. In this study, the application of wavelet …

Kinematic Behavior Of Sheared Sand With Emphasis On Particle To Particle Interaction Using Computed Tomography, Maha Fawaz Jarrar

Masters Theses

Granular materials are a three-phase mixture of solid, liquid, and gas that exhibit complex engineering properties. They have a heterogeneous composition in nature and consist of many discrete particles with complex interactions. Granular materials are commonly used in many civil engineering construction projects, therefore, a better understanding of behavior of granular materials may result in safe and economical design. This thesis is a compilation of two related topics. A 3D systematic experimental study that investigates the influence of particle morphology, confining pressure, and specimen density on the failure mode of sheared sand is presented. Three uniform sand specimens with different …

Developing Standard Procedures For Structural Aspects Of Slide-In Bridges In Accelerated Bridge Construction (Abc), Ozan Utku Ridvanoglu

Masters Theses

Slide-in bridge construction (SIBC) is a special method especially used to replace an existing bridge with the minimum duration road closure. In this method, new bridge superstructure is built next to the existing one and it is slid to its final position after demolishing the existing one. Applied implementations of SIBC show that several complications are experienced during bridge slide related with surface interaction. There is a need to evaluate the structural components of SIBC to develop suggestions. In this research, structural components of SIBC were investigated. The research dealt with completed SIBC implementations and numerical modelling of the slide …

Integrated Solar Technologies With Outdoor Pedestrian Bridge Superstructure Decking, Richard K. Racz

Masters Theses

Solar technology has been a major topic in sustainable design for many years. In the last five years, however, the solar technology industry has seen a rapid growth in installations and technological advances in cell design. Combined with a rapidly declining overall system cost, the idea of introducing solar technology into a wider range of applications is becoming a focus for engineers and scientists around the world. So many variables which alter solar energy production, such as the sun and surrounding environment, determine whether a solar design is beneficial. This thesis presents a bridge deck surface integrated with solar cells …

Behavior Of Hollow-Core Composite Columns Under Torsion Loading, Sujith Anumolu

Masters Theses

"The effect of torsional loads could be significant along with axial and flexural loads on bridge columns during earthquake excitations. The present study presents the torsional behavior of hollow-core steel-concrete-steel columns (HC-SCS) and hollow-core fiber reinforced polymer-concrete-steel columns (HC-FCS). The HC-SCS comprises of sandwiched concrete shell between two steel tubes whereas in HC-FCS column, the outer steel tube of HC-SCS column was replaced by the FRP tube. Both columns have stay-in place permanent form-work to the concrete shell in the form of outer and inner tubes. The steel tubes serve as longitudinal and shear reinforcement to the column. Finite element …

Influence Of Mix Design Parameters On Dynamic Segregation Of Self-Consolidating Concrete And Consequences On Performance Of Precast Beams, Aida Margarita Ley Hernandez

Masters Theses

"Self-Consolidating Concrete (SCC) is more vulnerable to stability problems as a consequence of its high flowing ability compared to conventional vibrated concrete. Dynamic segregation refers to the tendency of the concrete constituents to separate from the suspended matrix, usually in horizontal direction while being cast into the formwork or due to an impact. Similarly to static segregation, dynamic segregation can affect the homogeneity of SCC. Therefore, it is highly essential to ensure a proper dynamic stability in order to enhance the uniformity of in-situ properties of pre-stressed beams.

In this research project, the effects of SCC mix design parameters are …

Behavior Of Ultra-High Performance Concrete Bridge Deck Panels Compared To Conventional Stay-In-Place Deck Panels, Valter Gora Venancio

Masters Theses

"The remarkable features of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) have been reported. Its application in bridge construction has been an active research area in recent years, attributed to its higher compressive strength, higher ductility and reduced permeability when compared with conventional concrete and even high-strength concrete. Those characteristics are known to increase bridge durability and, consequently, decrease life-cycle maintenance costs.

With that in mind, this study investigated the performance of UHPC stay-in-place (SIP) bridge deck panels subjected to high loads in both flexure and shear. The test matrix consisted of twelve (12) half-scale panels that were 4 feet long and 2 …

Shear Behavior Of Reinforced Fly Ash-Based Geopolymer Concrete, Noor S. Yacob

Masters Theses

"The geopolymerisation of aluminosilicate materials such as fly ash has been a radical change in construction material's chemistry and composition, compared to the portland cement-based concrete calcium silicate-hydrate chemistry. The adoption of fly ash in concrete industry is a good use of by-product ashes to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gas implicitly. However, in this research, the replacement of portland cement by fly ash is 100%, which makes it a zero-cement concrete with no proprietary chemical additives.

Geopolymer concrete (GC) is a revolutionary synthetic material that combines sustainability and high engineering properties, and it is relatively cost-effective compared to portland …

Evaluation Of Ultra-High Performance Concrete (Uhpc) In Joints Of Bridge Girders, Saipavan Rallabhandhi

Masters Theses

"Joints are often considered as the weak link in a structure and often deterioration of the structure initiates from the joints. Joints transfer the stresses from super-structure to sub-structure and in this process are subjected to large transfer stresses. Not much attention is given to the design of joints as they are positioned in low moment regions and typically a 4 to 6 ksi (28 to 41 MPa) concrete is used to fill the joints. One of the solution to this problem is Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC). In the recent past significant research has been done to use UHPC in …