Engineering Commons^™

Dynamic Properties Of Railway Track And Its Components : A State-Of-The-Art Review, Sakdirat Kaewunruen, Alexander Remennikov

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

Recent findings indicate one of major causes of damages, which is attributed to the resonant behaviours, in a railway track and its components. Basically, when a railway track is excited to generalised dynamic loading, the railway track deforms and then vibrates for certain duration. Dynamic responses of the railway track and its components are the key to evaluate the structural capacity of railway track and its components. If a dynamic loading resonates the railway track’s dynamic responses, its components tend to have the significant damage from excessive dynamic stresses. For example, a rail vibration could lead to defects in rails …

Dynamic Design Guidelines For Prestressed Concrete Sleepers, Alexander Remennikov, Martin H. Murray, Sakdirat Kaewunruen

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

Current design philosophy, outlined in AS 1085.14, is based on the analysis of permissible stresses resulting from quasi-static wheel loads and essentially the static response of concrete sleepers. In general, cracking can incur when the bottom fibre stress is larger than tensile strength of concrete. Premature cracking of prestressed concrete sleepers has been detected in railway tracks. The major cause of cracking is the infrequent but high-magnitude wheel loads produced by a small percentage of “out-of-round” wheels or railhead surface defects, which are crudely accounted for in AS 1085.14 by a single load factor. Based on the current design method, …

Safety And Operational Impacts Of Alternative Intersections, Andrew P. Tarko, Mike Inerowicz, Brandon Lang

JTRP Technical Reports

As the degradation of service at some conventional intersections increases, there becomes a need for alternative solutions other than expensive interchanges. Many alternative intersections have been proposed in the past. Under certain traffic and local conditions some solutions are more promising than other. In some cases, the conventional intersection may still be the optimal choice. The presented research focused on developing guidelines that would help planners and designers identify the most promising solutions for further analysis. This objective has been addresses in two ways. Firstly, the existing knowledge on alternative intersections has been identified. Secondly, the performance of conventional and …

Use Of Micropiles For Foundations Of Transportation Structures Final Report, Hoyoung Seo, Monica Prezzi

JTRP Technical Reports

In pile design, piles must be able to sustain axial loads from the superstructure without bearing capacity failure or structural damage. In addition, piles must not settle or deflect excessively in order for the serviceability of the superstructures to be maintained. In general, settlement controls the design of piles in most cases because, by the time a pile has failed in terms of bearing capacity, it is very likely that serviceability will have already been compromised. Therefore, realistic estimation of settlement for a given load is very important in design of axially loaded piles. This notwithstanding, pile design has relied …

Methods Of Safety Improvements At Coordinated Signals, Wei Li, Andrew P. Tarko

JTRP Technical Reports

In this research, the safety impact of arterial signal coordination is investigated. Based on the findings, procedures are proposed to incorporate safety considerations into signal coordination design. In addition, a software tool is developed to facilitate the use of the research findings. Signal coordination has been extensively employed as a tool to optimize an arterial system’s mobility performance, commonly measured by the total number of vehicle stops and the time of delays. Although vehicle crashes at signalized intersections have long been recognized as a major safety threat, studies to date have been limited locally to non-coordinated signals or the noncoordinated …

Quantitative Rrna-Targeted Solution-Based Hybridization Assay Using Peptide Nucleic Acid Molecular Beacons, Xu Li, Eberhard Morgenroth, Lutgarde Raskin

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

The potential of a solution-based hybridization assay using peptide nucleic acid (PNA) molecular beacon (MB) probes to quantify 16S rRNA of specific populations in RNA extracts of environmental samples was evaluated by designing PNA MB probes for the genera Dechloromonas and Dechlorosoma. In a kinetic study with 16S rRNA from pure cultures, the hybridization of PNA MB to target 16S rRNA exhibited a higher final hybridization signal and a lower apparent rate constant than the hybridizations to nontarget 16S rRNAs. A concentration of 10 mM NaCl in the hybridization buffer was found to be optimal for maximizing the difference between …

Operations-Oriented Performance Measures For Freeway Management Systems: Final Report, Robert E. Brydia, Stephen P. Mattingly, Melanie L. Sattler, Auttawit Upayokin

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

This report describes the second and final year activities of the project titled “Using Operations-Oriented Performance Measures to Support Freeway Management Systems.” Work activities included developing a prototype system architecture for testing the use of performance measures in real-time. Outputs from this effort included operator’s screens, a prototype database, and a concept of operations for using the real-time measures. Additional work showcased the application of a multi-criterion screening approach to the selection of competing performance measures.

Alternative Land Use Patterns To Minimize Congestion (Volume 3: Empirical Study Of Mixed Land Use Traditional Neighborhoods), Li Jin, Jon D. Fricker

JTRP Technical Reports

Urban sprawl creates serious traffic congestion. Alternative land use patterns may be the best solution. New Urbanists claim that, by placing frequently-visited sites within walking distance of homes and creating a pleasant walking environment, people are more willing to choose non-motorized transportation mode to do such activities.

Part I of this study investigated the ability of travel demand models to estimate the impacts of alternative land use patterns. Part II conducted an economic viability analysis for a mixed land use neighborhood and collected land use preferences at meetings of neighborhood associations. The objective in Part III was to evaluate the …

Investigation Of The Effective Use Of Warning Lights On Indiana Department Of Transportation (Indot) Vehicles And Equipment, Bob Mccullouch, Brandon Stevens

JTRP Technical Reports

This study was requested by INDOT to determine if current lighting packages used on INDOT maintenance vehicles, specifically snow plow vehicles, can be improved with other commercially available products. Different light products were obtained from various vendors, mounted on INDOT vehicles, and visual comparisons were performed under various lighting and weather conditions by a team of observers. The comparison evaluations were performed revealing that other light packages, LED models for most options, were brighter and certain colors more visible. The preferred light models are recommended. These recommendations were forwarded to appropriate individuals that make these decisions at INDOT. Implementation is …

Trade-Off Analysis Methodology For Asset Management, Qiang Bai, Samuel Labi, Zongzhi Li

JTRP Technical Reports

In an era that is characterized by funding limitations, increased stakeholder participation, and the need for increased accountability and transparency, transportation agencies seek to ensure that comprehensive evaluation processes are identified and used for decision-making. Consistent with such processes is the incorporation of multiple performance criteria from different program areas, optimization of decisions under constrained budgets, and investigation of trade-offs between program areas, performance measures, budgetary levels, risk levels, and performance thresholds. To help INDOT carry out these processes, this study developed theoretical constructs for scaling and amalgamation of the different performance measures, and for analyzing the different kinds of …

Alternative Land Use Patterns To Minimize Congestion (Volume 1: Comparative Analysis Of Mixed Land Use And Separated Land Use Neighborhoods), Amica Bose, Jon D. Fricker

JTRP Technical Reports

Urban sprawl creates serious traffic congestion. Alternative land use patterns may be the best solution. New Urbanists claim that, by placing frequently-visited sites within walking distance of homes and creating a pleasant walking environment, people are more willing to choose non-motorized transportation mode to do such activities.

Part I of this study investigated the ability of travel demand models to estimate the impacts of alternative land use patterns. Part II conducted an economic viability analysis for a mixed land use neighborhood and collected land use preferences at meetings of neighborhood associations. The objective in Part III was to evaluate the …

Alternative Land Use Patterns To Minimize Congestion (Volume 2: Evaluating The Feasibility Of New Urbanism In An Existing Neighborhood), Huei Koh, Jon D. Fricker

JTRP Technical Reports

Urban sprawl creates serious traffic congestion. Alternative land use patterns may be the best solution. New Urbanists claim that, by placing frequently-visited sites within walking distance of homes and creating a pleasant walking environment, people are more willing to choose non-motorized transportation mode to do such activities.

Part I of this study investigated the ability of travel demand models to estimate the impacts of alternative land use patterns. Part II conducted an economic viability analysis for a mixed land use neighborhood and collected land use preferences at meetings of neighborhood associations. The objective in Part III was to evaluate the …

High-Performance Concrete Bridge Decks: A Fast-Track Implementation Study, Volume 1: Structural Behavior, Robert J. Frosch, Timothy S. Aldridge

JTRP Technical Reports

Transverse cracking of concrete bridge decks is problematic in numerous states. Cracking has been identified in the negative and positive moment regions of bridges and can appear shortly after opening the structure to live loads. To improve the service life of the bridge deck as well as decrease maintenance costs, changes to current construction practices in Indiana are being considered. A typical bridge deck was instrumented which incorporated the following: increased reinforcement amounts, decreasing reinforcement spacing, and high-performance, low-shrinkage concrete. The low shrinkage concrete was achieved using a ternary concrete mix. The objective of this research was to determine the …

Dynamic Responses Of Marine Risers/Pipes Transporting Fluid Subject To Top End Excitations, J. Leklong, S. Chucheepsakul, S. Kaewunruen

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

This paper deals with the dynamic responses to top end excitation of marine risers/pipes conveying internal fluid. The marine riser is often used as a flexible link between undersea bore head and subsurface offshore platform. The tidal waves and the changes of sea level consistently excite its top end connected to a floating vessel. In order to carry out the performance-based design of the marine risers, the evaluation of their dynamic responses to top end excitations is imperative. In this study, the marine riser is simulated using twodimensional beam elements. Energy functional of the marine risers conveying fluids is derived …

Influence Of Joint Stiffness On The Free Vibrations Of A Marine Riser Conveying Fluid, S. Kaewunruen, T. Mccarthy, J. Leklong, S. Chucheepsakul

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

The marine risers are generally used as the main transport means for economic materials and resources discovered undersea. In general, the marine risers are secured at either an offshore platform or a vessel. Both ends of the riser are to be adjusted to obey with the design criteria but in many cases their rotational stiffness is hardly set free for the hinge connection. This paper integrates the analytical investigation and the design consideration for the effects of end supports on the free vibrations of a marine riser conveying fluid. It is well known that resonances of marine risers/pipes can cause …

Empirical Two-Point Α-Mixing Model For Calibrating The Ech2o Ec-5 Soil Moisture Sensor In Sands, Toshihiro Sakaki, Anuchit Limsuwat, Kathleen M. Smits, Tissa H. Illangasekare

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Recently improved ECH2O soil moisture sensors have received significant attention in many field and laboratory applications. Focusing on the EC-5 sensor, a simple and robust calibration method is proposed. The sensor-to-sensor variability in the readings (analog-to-digital converter (ADC) counts) among 30 EC-5 sensors was relatively small but not negligible. A large number of ADC counts were taken under various volumetric water contents (?) using four test sands. The proposed two-point a-mixing model, as well as linear and quadratic models, was fitted to the ADC – ? data. Unlike for conventional TDR measurements, the effect of sensor characteristics is lumped into …

Creating Useful Products From Connecticut's 2000 Lidar Data Set Jhr 08-314 Project 07-2, Thomas H. Meyer

Department of Natural Resources and the Environment Articles

The State of Connecticut owns a LIght Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) data set that was collected in 2000 as part of the State’s periodic aerial reconnaissance missions. Although collected eight years ago, these data are just now becoming ready to be made available to the public. These data constitute a massive “point cloud”, being a long list of east-north-up triplets in the State Plane Coordinate System Zone 0600 (SPCS83 0600), orthometric heights (NAVD 88) in US Survey feet. Unfortunately, point clouds have no structure or organization, and consequently they are not as useful as Triangulated Irregular Networks (TINs), digital elevation …

Systems Analysis Of Resources Development - California State University, Sacramento, Kaveh Madani

All ECSTATIC Materials

The course presents a variety of systems analysis techniques that can be used for resource planning and management in the civil engineering field. Simulation and optimization techniques (or mathematical programming) are emphasized as they apply to civil engineering problem solving. Course taught at University of Central Florida.

Analysis And Determination Of Axle Load Spectra And Traffic Input For The Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide, Yi Jiang, Shuo Li, Tommy E. Nantung, Huaxin Chen

JTRP Technical Reports

The values of equivalent single axle loads (ESAL) have been used to represent the vehicle loads in pavement design. To improve the pavement design procedures, a new method, called the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG), has been developed to use the axle load spectra to represent the vehicle loads in pavement design. These spectra represent the percentage of the total axle applications within each load interval for single, tandem, tridem, and quad axles. Using axle load spectra as the traffic input, the MEPDG method is able to analyze the impacts of varying traffic loads on pavement and provide an optimal …

Evaluation Of Performance And Design Of Ultra-Thin Whitetopping (Bonded Concrete Resurfacing) Using Large-Scale Accelerated Pavement Testing, Scott Newbolds, Jan Olek

JTRP Technical Reports

Ultra-Thin Whitetopping (UTW) is a pavement rehabilitation technique that involves the placement of a thin Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) overlay, 2 inches (50 mm) to 4 inches (100 mm) thick, over a distressed Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) pavement. Typically, the HMA pavement is milled and cleaned which helps to create a bond between the existing HMA pavement and the PCC overlay. The bond between the two layers promotes composite action of the pavement section and as a result has a direct impact on the performance of the UTW Pavement. This composite action allows for the reduced thickness in the UTW …

Development Of An Integrated Land-Use Transportation Model For Indiana, Li Jin, Jon D. Fricker

JTRP Technical Reports

The Indiana Department of Transportation has an operational statewide travel demand model (ISTDM). INDOT also has used the Land Use Central Indiana (LUCI) model to forecast conversion of land to residential and employment uses in future decades over a 44-county area in central Indiana. This paper describes how the LUCI model was expanded to cover the same geographic area as the ISTDM, how the internal structure of each model was made to be compatible with the other model, and how the outputs from each model were made to be suitable as inputs to the other model. The result is an …

Assessment Of Axially-Loaded Pile Dynamic Design Methods And Review Of Indot Axially-Loaded Pile Design Procedure, Dimitrios Loukidis, Rodrigo Salgado, Grace Abou-Jaoude

JTRP Technical Reports

The general aim of the present research is to identify areas of improvement and propose changes in the current methodologies followed by INDOT for design of axially loaded piles, with special focus on the dynamic analysis of pile driving. Interviews with INDOT geotechnical engineers and private geotechnical consultants frequently involved in INDOT’s deep foundation projects provided information on the methods and software currently employed. It was found that geotechnical engineers rely on static unit soil resistance equations that were developed over twenty years ago and that have a relatively large degree of empiricism. Updated and improved static design equations recently …

Impact Damage Classification Of Railway Prestressed Concrete Sleepers, Sakdirat Kaewunruen, Alexander Remennikov

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

Commonly, railway tracks suffer with the extreme loading conditions, which are attributed to the train operations with either wheel or rail abnormalities such as flat wheels, dipped rails, etc. These loads are of very high magnitude but short duration, as well as they are of low-possibility occurrence during the design life of the prestressed concrete sleepers. In spite of the most common use of the prestressed concrete sleepers in railway tracks, their impact responses and behaviours are not deeply appreciated nor taken into the design consideration. Up until recently, a new limit states design approach, whereas the dynamic effects are …

Strain Sensitive Coax Cable Sensors For Monitoring Structures, Genda Chen, James L. Drewniak, Huimin Mu, David Pommerenke

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The invention provides increased structural monitoring systems that have sensitive continuous coaxial cable sensors. A preferred embodiment sensor cable of the invention includes an inner conductor, a dielectric jacket, and an outer conductor that is configured to passively deform responsively to strain in an associated structure. The deformation can be aided by the physical structure of the dielectric jacket, the outer conductor, or a combination of both. The deformation translates strain into a measurable change in a reflection coefficient associated with the outer conductor.

Application Of The Modified Log-Wake Law In Open-Channels, Junke Guo, Pierre Y. Julien

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

The modified log-wake law, which was developed for turbulent boundary layers and pipe flows, is extended to turbulent flows in open-channels. Turbulent velocity profiles in open-channels can be approximated with three components: (1) the law of the wall that results from the constant bed shear stress; (2) the law of the wake that reflects the effects of gravity, secondary currents and bed roughness; and (3) the cubic correction near the maximum velocity. A procedure to determine the four model parameters from velocity measurements while keeping κ = 0.41 is presented. The modified log-wake law compares very well with experimental data …

Watershed Management And Water Production Study For State Of Utah, Ibrahim Nourein Mohammed, David G. Tarboton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The amount of water produced from a watershed depends on the climate, soils, geology, land cover and land use. Precipitation water inputs in the form of rain or snow are partitioned by the watershed into evapotranspiration, runoff and groundwater recharge. This study has examined factors that may impact the production of runoff from Utah watersheds, focusing on factors related to land and watershed management. Specifically we are interested in how land use changes, such as afforestation, deforestation, agricultural, urban, industrial and mining development, impact runoff. The scale of interest is regional subbasins at the USGS cataloging unit 8 digit Hydrologic …

Hines, James Richard, 1903-1995 (Sc 1706), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1706. Statement of James Richard Hines, Bowling Green, Kentucky, related to expanded navigation of the Green and Barren Rivers and the potential for regional economic growth.

Moore, Mary (Taylor) Leiper, 1885-1973 (Sc 1714), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1714. Letter from Mary Leiper Moore, Bowling Green, Kentucky to Ben Johnson, Bardstown, Kentucky, 27 September 1938, related to covered bridges at Bowling Green and Bardstown. Includes copy of an act passed by the Kentucky General Assembly authorizing reconstruction of bridges destroyed by Confederate guerrilla Billy Magruder.

Flexural Behavior Of Reinforced Concrete Beams Strengthened With Cfrp Sheets And Epoxy Mortar, Byong Y. Bahn, Ronald S. Harichandran

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Experiments were conducted to study the effect of using epoxy mortar patch end anchorages on the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets. More specifically, the effect of the end anchorage on strength, deflection, flexural strain, and interfacial shear stress was examined. The test results show that premature debonding failure of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with CFRP sheet can be delayed or prevented by using epoxy mortar patch end anchorages. A modified analytical procedure for evaluating the flexural capacity of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with CFRP sheets and epoxy mortar end anchorage is developed …

Development Of A Problem-Based Learning (Pbl) And Cooperative Learning (Cl) Transportation Engineering Course For Undergraduate Students, Deogratias Eustace

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Faculty Publications

This study reports the findings of a project that was done during the implementation of a problem-based learning (PBL) and cooperative learning (CL) elements into an undergraduate transportation engineering course. The study procedure used the student course evaluations, including a survey questionnaire, and university-wide standardized student evaluations. Additionally, student homework, tests, and exam grades were used as part of the evaluation process. Two methods of teaching formats were evaluated: the traditional teaching method of lecturing and using end-of-chapter book questions for homework assignments and the new currently used teaching method of student field data collection, preparation of a lab report …