Bridge Deck Condition Assessment Using Destructive And Nondestructive Methods,
2014
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Bridge Deck Condition Assessment Using Destructive And Nondestructive Methods, Brandon Tyler Goodwin
Masters Theses
"This study investigates two bridge decks in the state of Missouri using both nondestructive and destructive testing methods. The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is responsible for the monitoring and maintenance of over 10,000 bridges. Currently monitoring of these bridges includes a comprehensive visual inspection. In this study, ground-coupled ground penetrating radar (GPR) is used to estimate deterioration, along with other traditional methods, including visual inspection, and core evaluation. Extracted core samples were carefully examined, and the volume of permeable pore space was determined for each core. After the initial investigation, the two bridges underwent rehabilitation using hydrodemolition as a …
Bond Performance Of Recycled Aggregate Concrete,
2014
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Bond Performance Of Recycled Aggregate Concrete, Amanda Renee Steele
Masters Theses
"In recent decades, engineers have sought a more sustainable method to dispose of concrete construction and demolition waste. One solution is to crush this waste concrete into a usable gradation for new concrete mixes. This not only reduces the amount of waste entering landfills but also alleviates the burden on existing sources of quality natural concrete aggregates. The objective of this study was to determine to effect of replacing coarse natural aggregates for recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) on the bond strength between deformed mild reinforcing steel and surrounding concrete. Two different RCA replacement levels were considered, 50% and 100%, and …
Shear Behavior Of High Strength Self-Consolidating Concrete In Nu Bridge Girders,
2014
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Shear Behavior Of High Strength Self-Consolidating Concrete In Nu Bridge Girders, Alexander Michael Griffin
Masters Theses
"As the nation's infrastructure continues to age, advanced concrete technologies have been developed to both reduce a structure's costs and increase its life expectancy. Since the early 1990's, self-consolidating concrete (SCC) has been one of these technologies. Many, however, have been reluctant to implement SCC in highway girders due to the mixture constituents. One of these concerns is the reduced content and size of the coarse aggregate. These differences in the concrete potentially hinder SCC's mechanical properties and shear resistance. Additionally, for high strength concretes (HSC) with weaker aggregates, shear cracks tend to propagate through the coarse aggregate, reducing the …
Polyurethane Foam Infill For Fiber Reinforced Polymer (Frp) Bridge Deck Panels: An Evaluation Of Core Alternatives Using Small Scale Experimental Testing,
2014
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Polyurethane Foam Infill For Fiber Reinforced Polymer (Frp) Bridge Deck Panels: An Evaluation Of Core Alternatives Using Small Scale Experimental Testing, Matthew Scott Hopkins
Masters Theses
"Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) decking is a concept that has been explored in recent decades as one solution to the performance issues of conventional concrete bridge decking. Many sandwich panel designs made of glass reinforced polyester or vinyl ester resin have been well developed, and manufactured using filament winding, hand lay-up, and extrusion methods. The major benefits of these panels was their light weight, corrosion resistance, fatigue performance, and potential for rapid field assembly. However, high initial costs coupled with small state budgets have kept them from main stream adoption. A viable alternative, is a foam/reinforced foam core sandwich panel …
Quantifying Ultra-High Performance Concrete Flexural System Mechanical Response,
2014
University of Central Florida
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,
2014
University of Central Florida
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,
2014
University of Texas at Arlington
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,
2014
University of Kentucky
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,
2014
University of Kentucky
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,
2014
University of Kentucky
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,
2014
University of Kentucky
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,
2014
University of Central Florida
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,
2014
University of Central Florida
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,
2014
University of Central Florida
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,
2014
University of Central Florida
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,
2014
University of Central Florida
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 …
Traffic Safety Assessment Of Different Toll Collection Systems On Expressways Using Multiple Analytical Techniques,
2014
University of Central Florida
Traffic Safety Assessment Of Different Toll Collection Systems On Expressways Using Multiple Analytical Techniques, Muamer Abuzwidah
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Traffic safety has been considered one of the most important issues in the transportation field. Crashes have caused extensive human and economic losses. With the objective of reducing crash occurrence and alleviating crash injury severity, major efforts have been dedicated to reveal the hazardous factors that affect crash occurrence. With these consistent efforts, both fatalities and fatality rates from road traffic crashes in many countries have been steadily declining over the last ten years. Nevertheless, according to the World Health Organization, the world still lost 1.24 million lives from road traffic crashes in the year of 2013. And without action, …
Urban Expressway Safety And Efficiency Evaluation And Improvement Using Big Data,
2014
University of Central Florida
Urban Expressway Safety And Efficiency Evaluation And Improvement Using Big Data, Qi Shi
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
In an age of data explosion, almost every aspect of social activities is impacted by the abundance of information. The information, characterized by alarming volume, velocity and variety, is often referred to as "Big Data". As one fundamental elements of human life, transportation also confronts the promises and challenges brought about by the Big Data era. Big Data in the transportation arena, enabled by the rapid popularization of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) in the past few decades, are often collected continuously from different sources over vast geographical scale. Huge in size and rich in information, the seemingly disorganized data could …
Utilization Of Simulated Ground Motions For Engineering Performance Assessment Of Tall Buildings,
2014
Stanford University
Utilization Of Simulated Ground Motions For Engineering Performance Assessment Of Tall Buildings, Nenad Bijelic, Ting Lin, Gregory Deierlein
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications
No abstract provided.
Non-Hydrostatic Models For Wave Propagation, Breaking, And Run-Up,
2014
University of Mississippi
Non-Hydrostatic Models For Wave Propagation, Breaking, And Run-Up, Zhangping Wei
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This dissertation develops a series of non-hydrostatic pressure wave models based on the finite element free surface flow model, CCHE2D, for simulating propagation, breaking, and run-up of coastal wave processes. The first non-hydrostatic formulation presented in this dissertation directly introduces a non-hydrostatic pressure module into CCHE2D. An edge-based pressure allocation method is implemented, and a depth-integrated vertical momentum equation is introduced. The depth-integrated horizontal momentum equations are solved for a provisional velocity field, and then the non-hydrostatic pressure is obtained by satisfying the divergence-free velocity field condition, subsequently the velocity field is corrected by the non-hydrostatic pressure. Finally the free …
