Digital Commons Network^™

Circular Economy Policies For Decarbonization Of Us Commercial Building Stocks: Data Integration And System Dynamics Coflow Modeling Approach, Radwa Eissa, Islam H. El-Adaway

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Despite the recognition of the built environment as a sector with high potential for reducing embodied emissions, there is a lack of national-level data on embodied carbon emissions attributed to the US commercial building stocks. Hence, there is a need to benchmark the current state of embodied emissions attributed to the commercial built environment and the impact of circular economy (CE) policies for their decarbonization to facilitate well-informed decision-making. This paper fills this knowledge gap through providing policy makers with a framework that estimates the current and future projections of embodied carbon emissions attributable to the US commercial building stocks …

Comprehensive Numerical Modeling Of Prestressed Girder Bridges Under Low-Velocity Impact, Mohamed T. Elshazli, Mohanad M. Abdulazeez, Mohamed Elgawady, Ahmed Ibrahim

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Accidental Collisions Involving Over-Height Trucks That Exceed Vertical Clearance Limits And Bridge Superstructures Frequently Happen, Resulting In Compromised Girders And Potential Threats To Structural Safety And Performance. The Numerical Simulation Of Large-Scale Prestressed Girder Bridge Collisions Poses Challenges Due To The Associated Nonlinearities, As Well As The Limited Availability Of Large-Scale Experimental Testing Data In The Literature Due To Cost And Complexity Constraints. This Study Introduces A Numerical Modeling Approach To Efficiently Capture The Response Of Prestressed Girder Bridges Under Lateral Impact Loads. A Finite Element (FE) Model Was Developed Using LS-DYNA And Meticulously Validated Against Experimental Data From The …

Natural Gas Induced Vegetation Stress Identification And Discrimination From Hyperspectral Imaging For Pipeline Leakage Detection, Pengfei Ma, Ying Zhuo, Genda Chen, Joel G. Burken

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Remote Sensing Detection of Natural Gas Leaks Remains Challenging When using Ground Vegetation Stress to Detect Underground Pipeline Leaks. Other Natural Stressors May Co-Present and Complicate Gas Leak Detection. This Study Explores the Feasibility of Identifying and Distinguishing Gas-Induced Stress from Other Natural Stresses by Analyzing the Hyperspectral Reflectance of Vegetation. the Effectiveness of This Discrimination is Assessed Across Three Distinct Spectral Ranges (VNIR, SWIR, and Full Spectra). Greenhouse Experiments Subjected Three Plant Species to Controlled Environmental Stressors, Including Gas Leakage, Salinity Impact, Heavy-Metal Contamination, and Drought Exposure. Spectral Curves Obtained from the Experiments Underwent Preprocessing Techniques Such as Standard …

Absorbance Enhancement Of A Treated Tanzanian Kaolin For Removal Of Synthetic Dyes From Water, Samwel Paul Mziray

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

The absorbance efficiency of local kaolin clay from Tanzania (Pugu kaolin) has been enhanced to improve its utilization in removal of textile dyes from water. The clay was acid-activated using H2SO4, after calcination at 750oC. Characterization by XRF, XRD, ATR-FTIR and Porosimeter showed kaolinite [Al2Si2O5(OH)4], silica (SiO2) and microcline [KAlSi3O8] as the main phases. Upon acid treatment, silica increased from 44.18% to 58.81% due to the appearance of tridymite, and alumina decreased from 26.70% to 12.74% due to disappearance of the kaolinite. Surface area increased from 15.36 to 149.61 m2/g due to removal of acid-soluble impurities. The chemical composition showed …

Steminism: Analyzing Factors That Improve Retention Of Women In Stem, Kira Carter, Jane Kelley, Jason Vasser-Elong, Rc Patterson

Dissertations

Our co-authored research ‘Steminism: Analyzing Factors That Improve Retention for Women as STEM Majors’ analyzed factors that contributed to the retention of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs at Missouri University of Science & Technology (Missouri S&T). Women make up half of the US population, and while careers in (STEM) are an integral part of the US economy, women are underrepresented in these career fields. The purpose of our dissertation is to address the underrepresentation of women in STEM majors. Our methodology included homogeneous sampling to collect qualitative data. More specifically, we consulted with academic advisors and …

Blood Lead, Cadmium And Hair Mercury Concentrations And Association With Soil, Dust And Occupational Factors In E-Waste Recycling Workers In Bangladesh, Sarker Masud Parvez, Farjana Jahan, Jaynal Abedin, Mahbubur Rahman, Shaikh Sharif Hasan, Nafisa Islam, Nirupam Aich, Mohammad Moniruzzaman, Zahir Islam, Masatake Fujimura, Rubhana Raqib, Luke D. Knibbs, Peter D. Sly

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Background: Electronic waste (e-waste) recycling activities release toxic metals, which pose substantial hazard to the environment and human health. We evaluated metal concentrations in biological and environmental samples, and examined the associations between biological lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and mercury (Hg) with soil and dust metals, and other possible determinants, among populations exposed and non-exposed to e-waste in Bangladesh.

Methods: A total of 199 e-waste workers and 104 non-exposed individuals were recruited. We measured blood Pb (BPb) and Cd (BCd) concentrations and total Hg (THg) from hair samples. Data were collected on occupational, and behavioral factors. We fitted …

Simple Sars-Cov-2 Concentration Methods For Wastewater Surveillance In Low Resource Settings, Mohammad Dehghan Banadaki, Soroosh Torabi, Alexus Lori Rockward, William Strike, Ann Noble, James W. Keck, Scott M. Berry

UK CARES Faculty Publications

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) measures pathogens in wastewater to monitor infectious disease prevalence in communities. Due to the high dilution of pathogens in sewage, a concentration method is often required to achieve reliable biomarker signals. However, most of the current concentration methods rely on expensive equipment and labor-intensive processes, which limits the application of WBE in low-resource settings. Here, we compared the performance of four inexpensive and simple concentration methods to detect SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater samples: Solid Fraction, Porcine Gastric Mucin-conjugated Magnetic Beads, Calcium Flocculation- Citrate Dissolution (CFCD), and Nanotrap® Magnetic Beads (NMBs). The NMBs and CFCD methods yielded the highest …

Containerization Of Seafarers In The International Shipping Industry: Contemporary Seamanship, Maritime Social Infrastructures, And Mobility Politics Of Global Logistics, Liang Wu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation discusses the mobility politics of container shipping and argues that technological development, political-economic order, and social infrastructure co-produce one another. Containerization, the use of standardized containers to carry cargo across modes of transportation that is said to have revolutionized and globalized international trade since the late 1950s, has served to expand and extend the power of international coalitions of states and corporations to control the movements of commodities (shipments) and labor (seafarers). The advent and development of containerization was driven by a sociotechnical imaginary and international social contract of seamless shipping and cargo flows. In practice, this liberal, …

Research And Comparison Of Pavement Performance Prediction Based On Neural Networks And Fusion Transformer Architecture, Hui Yao, Ke Han, Yanhao Liu, Dawei Wang, Zhanping You

Michigan Tech Publications

The decision-making process for pavement maintenance from a scientific perspective is based on accurate predictions of pavement performance. To improve the rationality of pavement performance indicators, comprehensive consideration of various influencing factors is necessary. To this end, four typical pavement performance indicators (i.e., Rutting Depth, International Roughness Index, Longitudinal Cracking, and Alligator Cracking) were predicted using the Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) database. Two types of data, i.e., local input variables and global input variables, were selected, and S-ANN and L-ANN models were constructed using a fully connected neural network. A comparative analysis of the predictive outcomes reveals the superior …

Geodatabase And Modeling Code Used For Dynamic Landslide Hazard Maps In Eastern Kentucky, Nathaniel O'Leary, L. Sebastian Bryson

Earth and Environmental Sciences Research Data

We developed spatiotemporal landslide hazard maps (LHMs) using soil, hydrologic, and geomorphic parameters from the subaerial infinite slope factor of safety (FS) equation under unsaturated conditions. Soil properties were extracted from the NRCS WSS, while geomorphic variables were derived from a 1.5 m LiDAR-based DEM and ArcGIS Online. Soil moisture from Hydrus-1D, driven by precipitation and evapotranspiration (ET) data from Irrigation Manager, introduced temporal variability. Validation against known landslide sites showed spatial and temporal FS accuracy despite some false positives. We also developed a landslide susceptibility maps (LSM) after comparing three machine learning algorithms, with bagged trees achieving the highest …

Untapped Potential Of Scrap Brass Alloy: A New Frontier In The Use Of Brass-Based Photocathodes For Stable And Durable Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting, Rahma Leil, Mohamed Mahrous Abodouh, Nasir Javed, Sneha Sreekumar, Haydee Pacheco, Nada Tarek, Deirdre M. O’Carroll, Nageh K. Allam

Faculty Journal Articles

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is a promising way to produce green hydrogen. However, one of the bottlenecks in realizing scalable green hydrogen production systems is the inability to identify and fabricate earth abundant, stable, and durable photocathodes. The main challenges with the reported photocathodes so far are their instability in aqueous solutions and the use of precious unabundant materials. To this end, the use of scrap materials to fabricate highly stable photocathodes would solve the two main challenges. Herein, scrap brass alloys with different zinc contents were used to fabricate photocathodes for photoelectrochemical green hydrogen production. The scrap brass alloy …

Modeling Of Nearshore Wave Transformations Behind Submerged Breakwaters, Mona Mahmoud Abdelay, Ibrahim Mohamed Rashwan, Ahmed Shalby, Hewida Mohamed Omara

Journal of Engineering Research

Breakwaters can generally be divided into three categories based on where the sea level is: submerged breakwater, emerged breakwater, and lower limit breakwater. Nearshore barriers with an underwater structure called submerged breakwaters are used to dissipate the force of wave strikes and safeguard the shoreline. The wave transmission coefficient value can be used to assess submerged breakwaters' contribution to the wave energy decrease. In the past mathematical and physical models were used to understand how the submerged breakwater affects incoming wave energy, hydrodynamic processes, and morphological changes. In the present study, the MIKE21 SW software as the numerical model was …

Improvement Of Convective Drying Equipment, A Ponasenko, Jasur Safarov, Shaxnoza Sultanova

Technical science and innovation

Drying of agricultural raw materials is an energy-consuming but integral process. Therefore, increasing the efficiency of drying and improving the quality indicators of dried material at minimum material and energy costs is relevant for producers of agricultural products. By present time numerous researches on improvement of constructions and processes of work of dryers providing satisfactory parameters of energy saving have been carried out. In some scientific materials it is shown that the use of generative gas and straw as fuel allows to reduce energy costs for the drying process in the fluidised bed dryer by 10-30%, the quality of seeds …

Mathematical Modeling Of Fruit Drying And System Analysis Of The Process (On The Example Of Persimmon), Gani Dadayev, Jasur Safarov, Shakhnoza Sultanova, Qobiljon Muxiddinov

Technical science and innovation

Vegetable raw materials, as an object of drying, are characterized by a large amount of water and a low content of dry substances. Vegetable raw materials have a capillary-porous structure. Food products contain both bound and free moisture at the same time. The removal of moisture from the material during drying depends on the total moisture content and the form of connection of moisture with the material. Adsorption and osmotic - bound moisture is retained at the interface of colloidal particles with the environment. Food products contain both bound and free moisture at the same time. The quantitative ratio between …

Capacitive Electrode Based Moisture Measurement Converter Errors And How To Eliminate Them, Hamdam Jabborov, Temurbek Rashidov

Technical science and innovation

The article discusses the errors associated with the moisture measuring transducer that is based on the cylindrical electrode, along with their sources and calculation formulas for error elimination. The initial capacitance of the capacitive electrode humidity converter is dependent on its geometric parameters, such as the radii of the electrodes and their length. Accurate calculation of these geometric parameters enables the reduction of regular measurement errors in the input and switching circuit of the moisture converter to a minimum value, resulting in a significant increase in the informativeness and accuracy of the output signal. Consequently, some sources of measurement errors …

Operations Research In Civil And Environmental Engineering, Nicholas Lownes

Open Educational Resource

The purpose of this text is introduce fundamental operations research techniques to the civil and/or environmental engineering student, providing a broad background in linear programming, integer programming and network optimization. The material is presented in such a manner so that the student does not need an extensive background in operations research or or linear algebra. Applications include transportation engineering, project management and general civil and environmental engineering applications.

Inspire Newsletter Spring 2024, Missouri University Of Science And Technology Inspire - University Transportation Center

INSPIRE Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Dice Are Blessed Or Cursed, Warren Campbell, Cameron Miller

SEAS Faculty Publications

Dice are cursed or blessed; that is, they roll low or high, but they are never fair. They cannot be manufactured with uniform density and geometric precision. This is particularly true of 20-sided dice or D20s. Faces are smaller than 6-sided dice, and manufacturing tolerances are similar. However, some dice are fairer than others. In our studies of plastic-mold dice about 1 in 4 test fair in 3000 rolls. We have used different statistical tests, including chi-square, modified Kolmogorov Smirnov, and double binomial tests. Of these, the method that consistently performed better is the chi-square goodness of fit test. The …

Predicting Compressive Strength Of Concrete Incorporating Fly Ash, Blast Furnace Slag, And Superplasticizer Using Machine Learning Techniques, Muhammad Faisal Yaqub

2024 REYES Proceedings

Concrete is the second most essential element in the construction industry, and its strength requirements vary based on the specific conditions of each project. However, determining the compressive strength of concrete involves laboratory tests, which wastes a lot of time and money. Researchers have developed machine learning models that predict the compressive strength of cement-based concrete having various mixes. In this research, the compressive strength of concrete incorporating fly ash, blast furnace slag, and superplasticizer is predicted using different machine learning models, namely, Linear Regression, Random Forest Regression, Decision Tree Regression, Extreme Gradient Boosting, Light Gradient Boosting, AdaBoost, and CatBoost …

Enhancing Groundwater Quality Assessment In Coastal Area: A Hybrid Modeling Approach, Md Galal Uddin, M M. Shah Porun Rana, Mir Talas Mahammad Diganta, Apoorva Bamal, Abdul Majed Sajib, Mohamed Abioui, Molla Rahman Shaibur, S M. Ashekuzzaman, Mohammad Reza Nikoo, Azizur Rahman, Md Moniruzzaman, Agnieszka I. Olbert

Publications

Monitoring of groundwater (GW) resources in coastal areas is vital for human needs, agriculture, ecosystems, securing water supply, biodiversity, and environmental sustainability. Although the utilization of water quality index (WQI) models has proven effective in monitoring GW resources, it has faced substantial criticism due to its inconsistent outcomes, prompting the need for more reliable assessment methods. Therefore, this study addressed this concern by employing the data-driven root mean squared (RMS) models to evaluate groundwater quality (GWQ) in the coastal Bhola district near the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh. To enhance the reliability of the RMS-WQI model, the research incorporated …

Nebraska Water Center Annual Report 2024

Nebraska Water Center: Administrative Materials

The report's highlights updates including ongoing research, know your well, and the Nebraska master irrigator launch.

Circular Economy Strategies For Reducing Embodied Carbon In Us Commercial Building Stocks: A System Dynamics Modeling Approach, Radwa Eissa, Islam H. El-Adaway

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Environmental concerns over embodied carbon - which is generated during the extraction, transportation, manufacturing, construction, and disposal of building materials - have been increasing as the industry shifts to renewable energy and grid decarbonization efforts prevail. Commercial buildings, a rapidly growing sector and a major source of embodied carbon, can contribute immensely to the national climate goals by transitioning into a circular economy (CE). Nevertheless, embodied carbon research is rather dispersed, with sparse data on the actual impact of different CE strategies and how they scale on nationwide commercial building stocks. To address this research need, the goal of this …

Planning Innovation For Implementing Modular Prefabricated Construction In Housing Development In Indonesia Using A Risk-Based Iso 56002:2019 Approach To Improve Project Performance, Deansa Agya Rahman, Yusuf Latief

Smart City

The development of housing in Indonesia, growing rapidly due to urbanization and population growth, faces challenges in terms of land, labor, and housing backlog. Despite being innovative, modular prefabrication methods are limited by unattractive designs and high costs, slowing down construction, harming the productivity of construction companies, and hindering the growth of the national construction sector. These challenges are prevalent in various countries and are influenced by low knowledge, conservative mindsets, and inhibiting regulations. In Indonesia, additional issues include a lack of mastery of modular prefabrication methods and awareness of long-term benefits. This research identified innovative risk-based applications of modular …

Understanding Learners' Perception Of Virtual Reality-Assisted Learning In Engineering Education, Mohammad Samin Mansur

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Virtual reality (VR)-assisted learning may facilitate an immersive and interactive learning environment and enable learners to explore and interact with learning content at their own pace and interest. However, it is still unknown how well VR is received in engineering learning while empowering autonomy and personalization. The objective of this study is to investigate learners' perceptions of VR-assisted learning in engineering education while allowing learners to learn at their own pace, driven by their personal preference. To this end, experiments were conducted, in which thirty engineering students were recruited and immersed in a VR setting designed to deliver an interactive …

Statistical Analysis On The Effects Of Environmental Factors On Bridge Condition Rating In Texas, Mohammad Wasif Quadri

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

The development of predictive models for bridge deterioration is crucial for ensuring the longevity and safety of transportation infrastructure. Bridge condition degradation is heavily influenced by environmental conditions. This research integrates various environmental variables such as rainfall, humidity, air temperature, coastal influence, and freezing effects to generate environmental risk scores. These scores help in developing environmental risk zones within the Texas region. Deck condition ratings from the National Bridge Inventory (NBI) database are used to develop deterioration models using linear regression and the Markov method. The results highlight the impact of different environmental risk zones on bridge degradation patterns and …

A New Piecewise Multinomial Logit Model Of Crash Severity With Accommodation Of An Unknown Inflection Point, Di Yang, Zifeng Zhao, Kun Xie, Hong Yang, Tianyu Shen, Mansoureh Jeihani

Kentucky Transportation Center Presentations

No abstract provided.

An Exploratory Analysis Of Fatal Vehicle Crashes In Urban And Rural Kansas In Relation To Identified Golder Hour Gaps In Hospital Coverage, Mason W. Lipford, Grace N. Whisler Lipford, Gregory L. Newmark, Eric J. Fitzsimmons

Kentucky Transportation Center Presentations

The state of Kansas is a relatively rural state with a majority of highway/interstate miles through farmland and low populated areas. These rural areas can be hot spots for crashes to occur and the lack of hospitals and emergency response nearby can make these types of crashes turn deadly. Few studies have been done on this topic especially for the state of Kansas. As the Department of Transportation is pushing to the “Drive to Zero” goal, pinpointing the harmful factors to indicate where improvements are needed to reduce the number, and severity of crashes is an important first step. Using …

Geodatabase And Automation Code Used For Past And Real-Time Dynamic Landslide Hazard Maps In Eastern Kentucky, Nathaniel O'Leary, L. Sebastian Bryson, Jason M. Dortch

Earth and Environmental Sciences Research Data

We developed spatiotemporal landslide hazard maps (LHMs) using soil, hydrologic, and geomorphic parameters from the subaerial infinite slope factor of safety (FS) equation under unsaturated conditions. Soil properties were sourced from the NRCS WSS, while geomorphic variables were derived from a 1.5 m LiDAR-based DEM and ArcGIS Online. Soil moisture from Hydrus-1D, driven by precipitation and evapotranspiration (ET) data from Irrigation Manager, introduced temporal variability. Validation against known landslide sites demonstrated FS accuracy both spatially and temporally, despite some false positives. To reduce false positives and enhance slope stability representation, novel depth-to-bedrock (DTB) and soil root cohesion maps were incorporated …

Crowdsourced Geospatial Data Is Reshaping Urban Sciences, Xiao Huang, Siqin Wang, Tianjun Lu, Yisi Liu, Leticia Serrano-Estrada

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

For many years, urban sciences relied heavily on traditional, authoritative data sources. However, a paradigm shift has occurred recently with the advent of citizen-driven data contribution. This evolution in data acquisition for urban science is attributable to advancements in positioning and navigation technologies, widespread use of digital devices, the rise of Web 2.0, enhanced broadband communications, and refined data management techniques. The significance of crowdsourced geospatial data in the realm of urban sciences is now widely acknowledged. A diverse array of novel data sources has been increasingly gaining prominence. These include, but are not limited to, social media platforms, street …

A 3-Step, Open-Data, Ride-Hailing Ridership Model With Pricing Applications, Richard A. Mucci

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Researchers and practitioners studied the effects ride-hailing had in cities before the covid-19 pandemic. Previous research found ride-hailing to produce negative externalities, such as reducing transit ridership and increasing congestion in various cities. Since the pandemic, ride-hailing ridership has nearly recovered to pre-pandemic levels in Chicago. Ride-hailing ridership has grown steadily since the pandemic while a rider’s willingness to share their trip stagnated. Ride-hailing ridership nearly recovering to pre-covid levels in Chicago suggests that transportation planners, and policy makers, will need to continue assessing the impacts ride-hailing trips have in their cities.

Pickup and drop off locations in the Chicago …