Construction Engineering and Management Commons^™

Complex Engineering System Learning Through Study Of Engineering Failure Cases Using 3d Animations, Zhigang Shen, Yimin Zhu

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Faculty Publications

Complex engineering systems often require dynamic coordination of multidisciplinary teams with conflicting objectives. Failing to understand the complex relationships among the conflicting objectives may result in serious engineering failures. In engineering education, one of the challenges in teaching complex systems is the lack of effective tools to demonstrate system dynamics, especially spatial-temporal relationships in the system. The described project in this paper is supported by grants from Engineering Education program of the National Science Foundation. In the project civil/construction engineering cases are used as the context to test the proposed new teaching/learning tool on the subject and to demonstrate the …

Optimal Loop Placement And Models For Length-Based Vehicle Classification And Stop-And-Go Traffic, Heng Wei, Qingyi Ai, Deogratias Eustace, Ping Yi

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Faculty Publications

Inductive loops are widely used nationwide for traffic monitoring as a data source for a variety of needs in generating traffic information for operation and planning analysis, validations of travel demand models, freight studies, pavement design, and even emission impact analysis of traffic operation. The loop data have also been used for vehicle length-based classification in many states including Ohio. The dual-loop detector consists of two single loop detectors which are placed apart at a fixed short distance, and this configuration enables the dual-loop detector data a potential real-time data source for speed and vehicle classifications. However, the existing dual-loop …

Implementing Lean In Healthcare Warehouse Operations - Evaluation Of 5s Best Practice, Sanjith Venkateswaran

LSU Master's Theses

Lean strategies in healthcare aim at improving patient throughput, reducing medication errors, redesigning work flow, improving patient safety, and reducing cycle time. Documented studies to improve healthcare’s warehouse operation are not common in the literature. Managing types of medical supplies has always been a priority due to demand uncertainties and the risk of shortages that would profoundly affect patient safety. This study showcases two implementation approaches for the Lean tool 5S (Hybrid and Traditional) conducted in three different hospitals’ central warehouses at Ochsner Health System. These warehouses store similar medical products with over 1000 types of supplies (e.g. syringes, gloves, …

Wash Water In The Mix: Effects On The Compressive Strength Of Concrete, Brian Wasserman

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Beginning with the Water Quality Act of 1987, requirements were put in place to control sediment run off from construction sites, which typically meant silt fences were installed and maintained on job sites. In 2009, when Aggregate Industries was fined $2.7 million by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for poor management of concrete wash water, the disposal of concrete wash water became a significant issue. Following the EPA guidelines, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) currently allows the dumping of excess concrete on the job sites, but requires control of all water used to wash concrete ready mix trucks, delivery …

Material And Energy Flow Analysis Of The Irish Construction Sector, Rachel Woodward

Theses

A national flow model for concrete was developed using the framework of material and energy flow analysis. Using this framework, the Irish concrete material and energy cycles for the year 2007 were constructed by firstly analysing the material life cycle of concrete which consists of the three phases of production (including extraction of raw materials and manufacture of cement), usage into stock (ready-mix and other concrete products), and waste management. In this year, approximately 35Mt of raw materials were extracted to produce both 5Mt of cement and 33Mt of concrete, with 4.5Mt of cement going into the production of concrete. …

Design Of A Smart System For Monitoring Concrete Curing And Structural Health, William Quinn

Theses

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is a rapidly growing sector of the construction industry. Automated monitoring methods arc mainly limited to global monitoring and the application of local monitoring methods has not gained widespread application due to the fact that currently technology requires that the systems are wired to data acquisition devices. This thesis presents a fully embeddable wireless sensor node for the local monitoring of structural concrete. It presents the first reported wireless embedded system implementation of the electromechanical impedance method using both resonant and antiresonant sensors for this purpose.

The first section of this thesis examines the feasibility of …

Building Information Management (Bim) Implementation In Naval Construction, Raymond Rohena

LSU Master's Theses

Traditional two-dimensional (2D) delivery systems in the construction industry can hinder the way information is communicated between owners, architects, and contractors. This hindrance exists in all phases of a project, from design and construction to the operation and maintenance of the completed facility. Building Information Management (BIM) is an emerging information technology that promotes a collaborative process for the Architectural, Engineering, Construction and Facilities Management (AECFM) industry; it can aid the exchange of information and provide improved project data accessibility to all stakeholders of a construction project. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), in conjunction with the facility management (FM) …

Replenishment Policies For A Tree-Type Three Echelon Supply Chain System, Ratkrit Rochanaluk

LSU Master's Theses

One of the common goals which most companies have is to maximize profits. There are two way to increase profit: increasing revenue or reducing cost. Lacking of ability to keep the cost down could potentially drive the companies out of the business. In recent years, many researchers have been paying more attention on improving supply chain system due to high potential of creating cost savings. The supply chain network considered in this research is a tree-type, three-echelon single producer, multiple distributors, and multiple retailers system. The goal of this research is to develop a replenishment policy which satisfies customers’ demand …

The Effects Of Highway Environmental Conditions On Photocatalytic Pavement's Ability To Reduce Nitrogen Oxides, Heather Dylla

LSU Master's Theses

Nitrogen oxides (NOx) emitted from vehicle exhaust are associated with negative health impacts and are a precursor to ozone. Self-cleaning, air-purifying concrete pavement is a rapidly emerging technology that can degrade pollutants such as NOx through heterogeneous photocatalysis. Although this technology has the potential to support environmentally friendly road infrastructure, a number of design and operational parameters may affect its effectiveness and thus need to be evaluated. The goal of this study was to measure the NOx reduction efficiencies from photocatalytic pavements under various environmental conditions common to highways. To achieve this goal, the objectives were to: (a) evaluate the …

Performance Assessment Of Innovative Framing Systems Through Building Information Modeling Based Energy Simulation, Santhosh Reddy Chinnayeluka

LSU Master's Theses

While many residential contractors, architects, and home-buyers today are concerned about the environment and interested in sustainable construction technologies, the perceived higher initial costs of innovative materials and methodologies and a lack of life-cycle cost and performance data present significant barriers in the implementation of such techniques. Research regarding an integrated design process has suggested that performance based decision making is key to the successful implementation of sustainable building practices. Therefore, a need exists for the development of whole building design and evaluation models to allow decision making in all phases of a building project. This research seeks information regarding …

Sustainable Design Optimization Of Rural Houses In North China, Mingliang Li

Purdue Polytechnic Masters Theses

With the rapid economic development of China, the living standards in rural areas have been experiencing improvement over the past two decades. One important aspect of the improved living standards is housing, which has been transformed from traditional adobe or stone structures into modern brick and concrete ones. In the meantime, active heating and cooling systems are gradually being incorporated and residents are requiring more comfortable indoor air temperatures during cold winters and hot summers. However, most rural houses have no insulation in their exterior walls and roofs. The question is whether or not it is economically viable to build …

Bs News January/February

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Warm-Mix Asphalt Additives On Asphalt Mixture Characteristics And Pavement Performance, Jun Zhang

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

The primary objective of this research is to evaluate the feasibility of several WMA mixtures as potential asphalt paving mixtures for Nebraska pavements. To that end, three well-known WMA additives (i.e., Sasobit, Evotherm, and Advera synthetic zeolite) were evaluated. For a more realistic evaluation of the WMA approaches, trial pavement sections of the WMA mixtures and their HMA counterparts were implemented in Antelope County, Nebraska. More than one ton of field-mixed loose mixtures were collected at the time of paving and were transported to the NDOR and UNL laboratories to conduct comprehensive laboratory evaluations and pavement performance predictions of the …

The Use Of Building Information Modeling In Generating Hard Bid Estimates, Peter Samuel Jensen

Theses and Dissertations

Building Information Modeling has provided many benefits to the architectural, engineering, construction and facilities management communities. Many studies have been done to validate the asserted benefits, including benefits to the field of estimating. The studies on estimating are currently limited to the realm of conceptual estimates, and have only treated detailed estimates in the abstract. The purpose of this study was to determine how BIM was being used by companies in a hard bid, or detailed estimate scenario. The research team used the Deseret Towers housing project at Brigham Young University as the basis for the research. A building information …

Culvert Material Cost Comparison, New England Environmental Finance Center

Economics and Finance

The following tables provide a detailed look at the role that culvert material and culvert diameter play in the overall cost of a culvert replacement project. Table 1 displays the cost per foot purchase price arranged by diameter size for the various culvert materials that are currently available. Table 2 displays the average additional culvert pipe material cost (increased cost to upsize minus original in-kind replacement cost) that would be incurred when upsizing a given diameter of culvert with a 50 foot length by factors of: 200%, 250% and 300%.

Bs News November/December

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Construction-Related Research Compared To Needs Of Industry Professionals, Sterling Graham

Theses and Dissertations

Research plays a large role in the advancement of any industry. It is particularly important that relevant research is performed in an industry as large and critical as the construction industry. A review of literature shows that historically research has not played a major role in the advancement of the construction industry. The work of this thesis was to explore whether there has been a change in this relationship, or not. This thesis explored whether the construction-related research being done is in alignment with the needs of industry. Comparisons of the rankings of construction research and industry views were done …

Bs News September/October

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Intricacies Of Professional Certifications For Quality Management (Qm), Edmund R. Martelli

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The modern manufacturing marketplace is extremely complex and constantly changing. Career professionals often seek job placement, career advancement, and continuing education through professional certifications. Professional certifications in the United States (U.S.) have been evolving since 1911. In the 1950s, engineering groups established professional certifications and licenses. In the 1980s, administration of accreditation of certification programs proliferated, and by the 1990s, many government and professional organizations sought to standardize procedures for the industry. Currently, professional certifications are available for virtually every profession and issued by multitudes of organizations.

Quality management (QM) encompasses an extensive combination ofprofessional abilities. Providers of professional certifications …

An Experimental Investigation Of Friction Bit Joining In Az31 Magnesium And Advanced High-Strength Automotive Sheet Steel, Rebecca Gardner

Theses and Dissertations

Friction Bit Joining (FBJ) is a recently developed spot joining technology capable of joining dissimilar metals. A consumable bit cuts through the upper layer of metal to be joined, then friction welds to the lower layer. The bit then snaps off, leaving a flange. This research focuses on FBJ using DP980 or DP590 steel as the lower layer, AZ31 magnesium alloy as the top layer, and 4140 or 4130 steel as the bit material. In order to determine optimal settings for the magnesium/steel joints, experimentation was performed using a purpose-built computer controlled welding machine, varying factors such as rotational speeds, …