Civil Engineering Commons^™

Dynamic Testing Procedures For Performance Assessment Of Nuclear Fuel Rods, Travis M. Adams

Honors Theses and Capstones

Existing transportation probabilistic risk assessment for spent nuclear fuel in the United States is based on short-term (decades) on-site storage at power plants before transport. Updated risk assessment estimates will be required as extended on-site storage (centuries) and higher burnup levels in fuel become standard. Nuclear fuel rods under these two conditions are more brittle than rods from short-term storage and intermediate burnup due to several mechanisms, including hydrogen embrittlement. Development of risk assessment requires characterizations of dynamic behavior of these degraded rods under transportation scenarios. This Honors thesis provides an initial literature review for a larger project that will …

Longitudinal Analysis Of Crash Frequency Data, Mojtaba Ale Mohammadi

Doctoral Dissertations

"This study comprises mainly of three papers. First, a systematic evaluation of the effects of Missouri's Strategic Highway Safety Plan between 2004 and 2007 is presented. Negative binomial regression models were developed for the before-through-change conditions for the various collision types and crash severities. The models were used to predict the expected number of crashes assuming with and without the implementation of MSHSP. This procedure estimated significant reductions of 10% in crashes frequency and a 30% reduction for fatal crashes. Reductions in the number of different collision types were estimated to be 18-37%. The results suggest that the MSHSP was …

Evaluation Of Long Term Effects Of Erosion Due To Groin Placement In The Northern Yucatan Peninsula, Andrew V. Mahfood

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This thesis documents the results of a study conducted to evaluate the long term effects of groin placement on beach re-nourishment and beach restoration in the Yucatan peninsula. The study includes the evaluation of six control points located on Chelem beach in Yucatan, Mexico, very close to the Progreso pier. The control points were set up in an active groin field to record data on the re-nourishment project covering the Chelem beach area. These erosion control groins were constructed as part of an experimental project to see how the adopted U.S. Army Corps of Engineers guidelines, for installing groins, affected …

Effect Of Construction Worker Demographic On E-Learning With Hazard Communication Standard, Serhan Kaya

Wayne State University Theses

Construction safety and health training can be delivered by different training methods, such as traditional, online and blended learning. E-learning is a newly introduced method whose effectiveness is still being investigated. This study focuses on the effect of construction worker demographics on the effectiveness of e-learning. The univariate analysis technique was used to find out the distribution and frequency of data collected by an internet based system. Further, multivariate analysis (cross tabulation) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were performed to determine the association between the independent variables which are age, gender, ethnic background, union status, number of employees in the …

Pile Load Distribution Behavior Of Pile Group Foundations Subjected To Combined Vertical Load And Moment, Janine Correa Faustino

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The purpose of this thesis is to perform parametric studies of maximum pile force, pile settlement, pile cap rotation and pile force distribution on square shape pile group foundation by employing three-dimensional finite element software, PLAXIS 3D. The square pile group foundation is subjected to combined vertical load and moment under the elastic material of two soil layers. For this study, a special element in PLAXIS 3D, called embedded pile element is used to model each pile in the pile group foundation. To simulate the pile group foundation, a small gap between pile cap and subsoil is introduced in the …

ผลเฉลยสถานะวิบัติของเสาเข็มรับแรงดันด้านข้างในดินเหนียวโดยการวิเคราะห์ไฟไนต์อิลิเมนต์, สุรภาพ แก้วสวัสดิ์วงศ์

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

วัตถุประสงค์ของวิทยานิพนธ์นี้เพื่อศึกษาเสาเข็มแรงดันด้านข้างวิบัติในดินเหนียว วิธีไฟไนต์อิลิเมนต์สองมิติและสามมิติถูกนำมาใช้เพื่อหาผลเฉลยในการศึกษานี้ การวิเคราะห์ไฟไนต์อิลิเมนต์แบบสามมิติบนระนาบความเครียดถูกนำมาใช้สำหรับการจำลองหน้าตัดแนวราบและหน้าตัดแนวดิ่ง การจำลองหน้าตัดแนวราบแสดงการประมาณของเสาเข็มรูปวงกลมหรือท่อรับแรงด้านข้างที่จุดศูนย์กลาง ในทางกลับกัน การจำลองหน้าตัดแนวดิ่งแสดงการประมาณของกำแพงฝังในดินซึ่งรับแรงดันด้านข้างและโมเมนต์ที่จุดบนสุด สำหรับกรณีเสาเข็มหน้าตัดแนวดิ่งและเสาเข็มจริงในระบบสามมิติ ที่หัวเสาเข็มถูกจำลองโดยแบ่งออกเป็นสองกรณีคือกรณีที่มีการยึดรั้งที่หัวเสาเข็มและไม่ยึดรั้งที่หัวเสาเข็ม นอกเหนือจากนี้ ผลกระทบของความหนาสำหรับการจำลองเสาเข็มหน้าตัดแนวดิ่งก็ถูกนำมาศึกษาเช่นกัน สำหรับการวิเคราะห์ทั้งหมด เสาเข็มถูกจำลองด้วยวัสดุแบบอิลาสติกและไม่เกิดการวิบัติขึ้นในโครงสร้าง ดินเหนียวถูกจำลองด้วยวัสดุแบบมอร์-คูลอมบ์ในสภาพไม่ระบายน้ำ ชิ้นส่วนเชื่อมต่อระหว่างดินและโครงสร้างถูกใช้ที่ผิวสัมผัสระหว่างดินเหนียวและเสาเข็มของทั้งสองหน้าตัด นอกจากนั้น ชิ้นส่วนเชื่อมต่อระหว่างดินและโครงสร้างถูกจำลองเป็นสองแบบคือ การเชื่อมต่อแบบแรงดึงสมบูรณ์ และ การเชื่อมต่อแบบไม่มีแรงดึง กรณีแรกจำลองสภาพไม่เกิดการแยกตัวระหว่างดินและโครงสร้าง แต่กรณีสองจำลองสภาพการแยกตัวระหว่างดินและโครงสร้าง ผลเฉลยแรงวิบัติของเสาเข็มรับแรงด้านข้างถูกนำเสนอในรูปของพารามิเตอร์ไร้มิติ ผลการศึกษาของงานวิจัยนี้ถูกเปรียบเทียบกับผลการศึกษาในอดีต นอกเหนือจากนี้ เส้นขอบเขตการวิบัติของผลเฉลยของเสาเข็มรับแรงในแนวราบและโมเมนต์ร่วมกันสำหรับกรณีเสาเข็มหน้าตัดแนวดิ่งและเสาเข็มจริงในระบบสามมิติก็ถูกนำเสนอเช่นกัน ท้ายที่สุด ผลกระทบสามมิติที่มีต่อผลเฉลยของตัวแปรไร้มิติของเสาเข็มรับแรงดันด้านข้างก็ถูกนำเสนอในงานวิจัยนี้

Laboratory Investigation And Numerical Modelling Of Track Foundation For High-Speed Railway Construction On Bangkok Soft Soil, Phitsanu Pholkainuwatra

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The government of Thailand has recently decided to launch a high-speed railway project to promote regional economy and improve the logistics of trade to connect with other countries in Southeast Asia community. Raising a complication regarding the load transfers will certainly induce many problems to the railway system. Moreover, the constructions of railway substructures in the past often involve the low quality of materials especially in the Central Plain of Thailand. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the sources of construction materials for railway substructure materials. This study consists of two main objectives. The first objective is to investigate the …

A Decision Making Tool For Sustainable Design In Construction, Enda Collins

Theses

This report defines sustainability and sustainable development before any research is carried out. This is necessary so that the research carried out further in the report makes sense and there is a reason for including such items in this report. The need for this project and what the project aims to achieve is also highlighted in the introduction of this report.

Sustainability is made up of three equal parts; social, economic and environmental. This report goes through each item and gives examples of each type of development. Having discussed sustainability in a broad sense the report then focuses on Legislation …

Quantifying Ultra-High Performance Concrete Flexural System Mechanical Response, Yulin Xiao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The research and application of Ultra-high Performance Concrete (UHPC) has been developed significantly within the last 1-2 decades. Due to the specific property of high strength capacity, it is potential to be used in bridge deck system without shear reinforcement so that it provides even lighter self-weight of the deck. However, one of the shear component, dowel action, has not been adequately investigated in the past. In this dissertation, a particular test was designed and carried out to fully investigate the dowel action response, especially its contribution to shear resistance. In addition, research on serviceability and fatigue behaviors were expanded …

Role Of Force Resultants Interaction On Fiber Reinforced Concrete, Titchenda Chan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) is a recently developed concrete gaining a lot of interest worldwide, and a lot research has been conducted to determine its material properties. UHPC is known for its very high strength and high durability. Association Francaise de Genie Civil (AFGC) has defined UHPC as a concrete exhibiting compressive strength greater than 150 MPa (22 ksi). To utilize the full compressive strength of UHPC, complementary tension reinforcement is required. A recent research study to find light weight yet high strength alternative deck systems for Florida movable bridges demonstrated that a composite UHPC and high strength steel (HSS) …

Stiffness Response Of Chemically Stabilized Sulfate Rich Soil Via Resonant Column Test, Miftah Semane

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Stabilization of expansive soils using lime and cement additives have been used by practitioners over the last few years. However, recent heaving and premature pavement failures in lime and cement-treated subgrades containing sulfates led to questioning the validity of calcium based stabilization. When expansive soils containing sulfates are treated with calcium-based stabilizers, the calcium from the stabilizer reacts with soil sulfates and alumina to form the expansive mineral Ettringite.A series of resonant column (RC) tests (ASTM D 4015-92) was conducted on several chemically stabilized specimens of high-plasticity, sulfate-rich expansive clay from Sherman, Texas. Test results were used to assess the …

Deformation And Shear Behaviors Of Weathered Compacted Shale, Xu Zhang

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

As an abundant sedimentary rock, shale is widely used as construction material around the world. However, shale is a fissile and laminated material and is therefore subject to deterioration due to environmental and chemical forces (i.e., weathering), which is possible to cause high maintenance cost on associated structures and failures of earth slopes and embankments. However, currently, there is lack of efficient method to monitor the weathering process of shale. This thesis uses several shale samples collected from the commonwealth of Kentucky to study the deformation and shear behaviors of weathered compacted shale. A new electrical approach was developed to …

Development Of Indirect Ring Tension Test For Fracture Characterization Of Asphalt Mixtures, Alireza Zeinali Siavashani

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Low temperature cracking is a major distress in asphalt pavements. Several test configurations have been introduced to characterize the fracture properties of hot mix (HMA); however, most are considered to be research tools due to the complexity of the test methods or equipment. This dissertation describes the development of the indirect ring tension (IRT) fracture test for HMA, which was designed to be an effective and user-friendly test that could be deployed at the Department of Transportation level. The primary advantages of this innovative and yet practical test include: relatively large fracture surface test zone, simplicity of the specimen geometry, …

Calibration Of Non-Nuclear Devices For Construction Quality Control Of Compacted Soils, Joshua E. R. Wells

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Inadequate compaction of a soil subgrade can lead to detrimental outcomes that are not only costly but dangerous to the general public. To avoid this, quality control (QC) devices such as the nuclear density gauge (NDG) are currently being used to monitor the compaction and moisture content of soil subgrades. However, regulatory concerns associated with the NDG have encouraged federal and state agencies, as well as the heavy civil construction industry to consider non-nuclear devices for QC testing of compacted soils. One such non-nuclear device is the Soil Density Gauge (SDG), which utilizes electromagnetic wave propagation to obtain soil properties …

Development Of Cementitious Materials For Adhesion Type Applications Comprising Calcium Sulfoaluminate (Csa) Cement And Latex Polymer, Joshua V. Brien

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

The objective of this research was to develop high performing polymer modified calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) cement materials for use in applications requiring superior adhesion characteristics. Little information is available describing interactions of CSA cement containing minor phase tri-calcium aluminate (C₃A) with commonly used admixtures. Given the scarcity of information, a basic approach for developing cementitious materials was followed. The basic approach consisted of four tasks: cement design, admixture design, polymer design and testing developed materials. The iterative, time consuming process is necessary for understanding the influence of specific constituent components on overall system behavior. Results from the cement …

Uncertainty Treatment In Performance Based Seismic Assessment Of Typical Bridge Classes In United States, Mohammad Mehdizadeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bridge networks are expensive and complex infrastructures and are essential components of today's transportation systems. Despite the advancement in computer aided modeling and increasing the computational power which is increasing the accessibility for developing the fragility curves of bridges, the complexity of the problem and uncertainties involved in fragility analysis of the bridge structures in addition to difficulties in validating the results obtained from the analysis requires precaution in utilization of the results as a decision making tool. The main focus of this research is to address, study and treatment of uncertainties incorporated in various steps of performance based assessments …

Transferability And Calibration Of The Highway Safety Manual Performance Functions And Development Of New Models For Urban Four-Lane Divided Roads, Kaaf, Khalid Al

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many developing countries have witnessed fast and rapid growth in the last two decades due to the high development rate of economic activity in these countries. Many transportation projects have been constructed. In the same time both population growth and vehicle ownership rate increased; resulting in increasing levels of road crashes. Road traffic crashes in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is considered a serious problem that has deep effects on GCC's population as well as on the national productivity through the loss of lives, injuries, property damage and the loss of valuable resources. From a recent statistical study of traffic crashes …

Applications Of Transit Signal Priority Technology For Transit Service, Frank Anthony Consoli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research demonstrated the effectiveness of Transit Signal Priority (TSP) in improving bus corridor travel time in a simulated environment using real world data. TSP is a technology that provides preferential treatment to buses at signalized intersections. By considering different scenarios of activating bus signal priority when a bus is 3 or 5 minutes behind schedule, it was demonstrated that bus travel times improved significantly while there is little effect on delays for crossing street traffic. The case of providing signal priority for buses unconditionally resulted in significant crossing street delays for some signalized intersections with only minor improvement to …

Beneficial Utilization Of Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Ashes As Sustainable Road Construction Materials, Kazi Tasneem

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Incineration of municipal solid waste (MSW) is common for energy recovery, and management of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) ashes has received a growing attention around the world. In the U.S., generation of MSW has increased up to 65% since 1980, to the current level of 251 million tons per year with 53.8% landfilled, 34.5% recycled and composted, and 11.7% incinerated with energy recovery. In the process of incineration, MSWI ash is being produced as byproducts; about 80 to 90% of the MSWI ash is bottom ash (BA) and 10 to 20% is fly ash (FA) by weight. The current …

A New Multidimensional Psycho-Physical Framework For Modeling Car-Following In A Freeway Work Zone, Taylor Lochrane

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the United States continues to build and repair the ageing highway infrastructure, the bearing of freeway work zones will continue to impact the capacity. To predict the capacity of a freeway work zone, there are several tools available for engineers to evaluate these work zones but only microsimulation has the ability to simulate the driver behavior. One of the limitations of current car-following models is that they only account for one overall behavioral condition. This dissertation hypothesizes that drivers change their driving behavior as they drive through a freeway work zone compared to normal freeway conditions which has the …