Structural Engineering Commons^™

Structural Dynamics Of Awt-27 Wind Turbine Blade, Amr Ismaiel

Future Engineering Journal

Wind energy is one of the world’s current leading renewable energy resources. One of the major aspects of studying wind turbines is the structural dynamics for the turbine structure including blades and support structure. In the current work, the blades of the Advanced Wind Turbine (AWT-27) are investigated in a dynamic approach. Different wind fields have been generated for the study to provide different Design Load Conditions (DLCs). Three laminar wind velocities of 5 m/s, 12 m/s, and 17 m/s were simulated. Turbulent wind flow fields have also been generated at the three standard classes A, B and C of …

Dynamic Response Of Elastic Two-Story Steel Moment Frame Scaled Structure Equipped With Viscous Dampers, Garrett L. Barker, Alexander L. Poirier

Architectural Engineering

The authors of this report are Architectural Engineering undergraduate students at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Damping is a complex, experimentally derived value that is affected by many structural properties and has a profound effect on the dynamic response of structures. Deducing the inherent damping of a steel moment frame and affecting the damping ratio with viscous dampers are two topics explored in this paper. Dampers are commonly implemented in resilient structures that perform better in a design basis earthquake, reducing the seismic cost and downtime. Undergraduate coursework does not delve into the factors that affect damping and …

Guidelines For The Eeri Seismic Design Competition, Kate Robinson

Architectural Engineering

The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) has been dedicated to exposing undergraduate students to the wide range of interdisciplinary subjects related to earthquake engineering through the Seismic Design Competition. In 2022, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) sent 14 students to Salt Lake City, Utah for the competition – to compete with 31 other teams who all tackled the competition problem statement uniquely. The 2022 team was tasked with the research, design, analysis, and construction of a new structure to be built in downtown Salt Lake City, with the goal of replicating the design sequence of real-world …

Sage Garden Pavilion Shade Structure, Anthony Razouk Karroum, Manuel Bermudez, Matthew Kilbride, Sarah Holt, Marisa Martineau

Architectural Engineering

Form finding, testing, and construction of funicular double-layered shells in an interdisciplinary format with a focus on designing a shade structure for the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden Children’s Pavilion. In the process, challenges such as connection design, materiality, storage, and more are explored and refined in relation to shell structures.

Increasing Strength Of Plywood Shear Walls, Elizabeth Claypool, Michelle Dennin

Architectural Engineering

In a recent iteration of an upper-division engineering design lab course at Cal Poly SLO, students were challenged to identify and understand the probable failure mechanism of conventionally built plywood shear walls and hypothesize how they could delay or prevent common failure mechanisms to increase the overall lateral load capacity. After observing the results of a test on a conventional, code specified wall, a solution to integrate metal gauge strapping into edge nailing was developed to address the common failure mechanisms of nail head pull through and panel edge tear out. A shear wall with metal strapping installed between the …

Shallow-Water Wind Turbine Foundation, Andrew Walker, Nico Nani, James Cusanelli, Zachary Dunkelberger

Mechanical Engineering

Over the 2021-2022 academic year, we, the Shallow Water Wind Turbine Foundation senior project team, designed, manufactured, and tested a fixed bottom, sand mounted turbine foundation for the Cal Poly Wind Power Club’s Collegiate Wind Competition turbine. The foundation was restricted to certain material, installation, and geometric constraints outlined in this report, and needed to support the turbine under operating conditions including 22 m/s wind speeds. The design was analyzed using primarily a bearing capacity geotechnical analysis to determine final geometry and weight. The foundation was then manufactured using welded, custom carbon steel parts.

The foundation was inspected for geometric …

Design, Fabrication, And Testing Of Mechanical Hinges With Snap-Fit Locking Mechanisms In Rigid Origami Structures, Colby James Scanlon

Master's Theses

The ancient art of ‘origami’ has recently become the source of inspiration for engineers to create structures that can unfold from a compact state to a fully deployed one. For instance, researchers have currently adopted origami designs in various engineering disciplines, including aerospace engineering, robotics, biomedical engineering, and architecture. In particular, architects have been interested in designing origami-inspired rigid walled structures that can be deployed as disaster-relief shelters. This type of design has three main advantages: transportability, constructability, and rigidity. Although there has been increased interests in deployable structures, limited research has been conducted on evaluating their structural performance, specifically …

Final Report - Climbing Robots With Automated Deployments Of Sensors And Nde Devices For Steel Bridge Inspection, Hung La, Son Nguyen

Project AS-2

Automated solutions for infrastructure inspection are desirable. However, arduous engineering is delaying our progress. A complete system needs to deal with three main problems: (1) locomotive performance for high complexity of steel bridges including differential curvatures, transitions between beams and obstacles; (2) data collection capability, inclusive of visible and invisible damages, in-depth information such as vibration, coat, and material thickness, etc.; and (3) working condition made up of gust wind. To have such a complete system, this technical report presents novel developments in inspection-climbing robots. Four different robot versions are designed to look for the simplest and most effective configuration …

A Review Of Current Construction Guidelines To Inform The Design Of Rammed Earth Houses In Seismically Active Zones, David Thompson, Charles Augarde, Juan Pablo Osorio

Articles

Sustainability in the materials we use for construction is a prime concern, focusing on reducing the embodied energy and carbon footprints of the materials used. The cement used in concrete products is responsible for a significant proportion of Man's CO2 emissions and its production requires substantial energy input, as do fired clay products. For this reason, products formed from unfired earthen materials are of increasing interest and the current challenges include devising means of robust design for strength and to address durability concerns. One form of earthen construction that employs an in-situ method is rammed earth, and it is a …

Experimental And Numerical Investigation Of 3d-Printed Viscoelastic Dampers, Mohammed Jaradat

Civil Engineering ETDs

Elastomeric materials are extensively used in energy dissipation applications to mitigate large lateral displacements and attenuate vibrations. One way of exploiting the capabilities of elastomeric materials is using shear-damping mechanisms such as viscoelastic damping devices (VEDs).

In this research the freedom of design offered by additive manufacturing technology is utilized to produce 3D printed elastomeric parts that act as the viscoelastic layer in an energy damping device. A mechanically interlocked viscoelastic damper (MIVED) with a jigsaw-like interlocking mechanism was designed and manufactured. MIVED is composed of a rigid and soft phase. It operates in two modes, modes I and II, …

Enhancing The Performance Of Dowel Type Fasteners And A Case Study Of Timber Truss Failure, Lon A. Yeary

Theses and Dissertations

This document will outline the findings of three separate and independent studies: Study 1: In or around 1972, an experimental building was constructed. One of the intents of the construction project was to demonstrate advancements in wood building construction design. It was value-engineered throughout. That is, its materials and systems were intended to function at or near design capacity. In 2019, part of the roof of the structure collapsed. This case study investigates two potential factors that led to the failure: stress concentration in excess of the 12 allowable stress for 2 × 4 web members and insufficient plywood sheathing …

The Living Breakwaters Pdr Efforts: Conceptual Scheduling, Calvin O. Walters Jr.

Publications and Research

On October 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy caused nearly $19 billion in damages in New York City including 69,000 residential units across the five boroughs. This disaster precipitated a post-disaster-rebuilding (PDR) project including roughly $4.2 billion in a Community Development Block Grant allocated towards PDR projects. A portion of the grant was used to construct a living breakwater in Tottenville, Staten Island, consisting of a resiliency approach to risk reduction through erosion prevention, wave energy attenuation, and enhancement of ecosystems and social resiliency to improve resistance to storms for the community of Tottenville. The ridges of each breakwater are designed with …

Structural Design For Fire Conditions Of A Prototype Metal Building Using The New Proposed Appendix To Aisi S100, Xia Yan, Thomas Gernay

American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) Specifications, Standards, Manuals and Research Reports (1946 - present)

Performance-based design for fire conditions has been increasingly adopted for different structural systems over the last decade. The objective of this project is to exemplify through a case study how the newly proposed Appendix 4 to AISI S100 [1] on ‘Structural Design for Fire Conditions’ could be used by the metal building industry. The scope of work on the project includes the following:

(1) Identification of a prototype metal building to serve as an exemplar case study for the structural fire design procedure.

(2) Definition of the performance objectives and design requirements for the building in the fire situation. This …

Port Infrastructure Resilience Through Combined Wind-Surge Demand Characterization, Kaley Callaway

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The United States economy is reliant on maritime transportation for 70% of imports and exports. Structures that are integral to the operation of ports, such as cranes, are jeopardized when tropical storms approach land. While wind is the only environmental load used to design dockside container cranes, storm surge often accompanies severe wind events and can create large structural loads. This study focuses on determining coupled storm-surge demands and the effect of waves on dockside container cranes. A damage index prediction tool that considers both maximum wind speed and storm surge height is developed and applied to historical hurricane data …

Refining Particle Size Specification For Asphalt Emulsion, Pedro Luis Diaz Romero

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Pavements begin to deteriorate as soon as they are constructed, and traffic is released. The rate at which a pavement deteriorates depends on the material quality, the environment, and the loads carried. To properly preserve pavements and extend their life, various pavement preservation treatments are used. For flexible pavements, a considerable number of these treatments use asphalt emulsion (which are refer to simply emulsions from here on). Emulsions are classified based on their particle charge and reactivity. Emulsions used in chip seals are usually of rapid set reactivity and are classified based on tests over fifty years old.

It has …

Cyclic Behavior Of Laterally Skewed Special Moment Frame Connections: Experimental Testing And System-Level Analyses, Mohammad Hossein Kashefizadeh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Special moment frames (SMFs) are frequently used in high seismic areas for architecturally constrained designs. SMFs provide lateral system stiffness without the use of braces that often obstruct views and architectural features. Current American Institute of Steel Construction (ASIC) provisions (AISC 341-16) provide prequalified SMF connection details; however, all prequalified details only consider orthogonal connections between the beam and column. This dissertation investigates the effect of adding skew within SMF beam-to-column connections. The study presented herein involves system-level dynamic time-history analyses of skewed SMF connections, the analytical component-level investigation into the effect of the concrete slab on behavior of the …

Validation Of Cfd Tornado Pressure On Building And Wind Field With Ttu Vortex Chamber Measurements, Sumit Verma

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Structural failure of low-rise buildings is the root cause of higher number of casualties, death tolls and economic losses at the place of occurrence of tornadoes. Proper design of low-rise buildings in tornado-prone areas require accurate estimation of tornado-induced wind loads; however, exhaustive research to estimate the wind loads reliably on buildings during tornadic events is still lacking. Several studies have been carried out to investigate the magnitude of forces induced by tornado winds on buildings from experimental as well as computational side. However, the wind pressures obtained on the building from different experimental studies have shown significant variation from …

Analyzing Vulnerabilities In The Northwest Arkansas Highway Network Using Mathematical Optimization, Brandon Jerome

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The highway and bridge network is a critical infrastructure that allows for the free transportation of citizens and enables truck-borne freight transportation. Disruption of this system could be caused by a terrorist attack, natural disaster, growth of population, required repairs and upgrades, or collapse caused by old age or malfunction. In the event of a disruption cities and regions can experience increased traffic and supply chain shortages, thus causing cascading effects throughout surrounding areas. With this motivation, we develop a network interdiction optimization model to identify a limited subset of roads that, if disrupted, causes the greatest increase in the …

Strain Measurements In Skewed Reduced Beam Section Special Moment Frame Connections, Elizabeth Moriconi

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

A series of experimental tests were conducted in the Civil Engineering Research and Education Center (CEREC) at the University of Arkansas to evaluate the effect of beam skew on a reduced beam section. Various degrees of skew on deep and shallow column depths were tested following a cyclical loading protocol, established by the AISC Seismic Provisions, to analyze the capacity of the out-of-plane skew connection [1]. Using the prequalified cyclical loading protocol allows for the evaluation of SMF connections in skew configurations against seismic events. Strain distributions throughout the RBS section, the welded beam-column connection, and the column flange were …

Comparing The Stiffness Of Cold In-Place Recycled Asphalt Pavement To Hot Mix Asphalt: Determining The Reproducibility Of The Stiffness Rebound Test, Tanner Turben

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Stiffness Raveling Mechanism Test (SRMT) was originally developed as an indirect measure of pavement stiffness to determine a pavement’s tendency to ravel, a type of damage. Regarding rehabilitation of existing roadways by Full Depth Reclamation (FDR) Cold In-Place Recycling (CIR), concern of field repeatability was expressed (Hill & Braham, 2016).

An analysis of lab-compacted samples of CIR and Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) was performed to determine if the results could be reproduced between CIR and HMA. Additionally, the experiment observed the effects of percent air voids, temperature, and moisture conditioning on CIR and HMA. Three samples were prepared for …