Engineering Commons^™

Meta-Network Analysis Of Complex Construction Systems: Improving Project Efficiency Using Novel Computer-Based Analytic Methodology, Ethan Cummiskey

Honors Scholar Theses

The objective of this study is to build upon the framework of a meta-network approach to assessing vulnerabilities in construction projects. By viewing these complex environments as configurations of various nodes and links, it is possible to show the relationship between each entity in the project and the overall completion that is achieved from these connections. To expand upon previous studies, the vulnerabilities measured from this approach will be used to optimize the current network to eliminate any shortcoming in the project model. By investigating the congruence of different agents on the project, resources and informational nodes can be supplied …

Risk And Safety Associated With Hazardous Materials Transport In Rural And Native American Communities: A Case Study Of Thurston County, Nebraska, Sydney James

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

Rural counties and Native American Reservations often lack the resources and planning to respond to a hazardous material release which can cause catastrophic results. Many rural counties and Native American Reservations do not have close access to a fire department or medical facility, which would increase response times during a time of crisis. Jurisdiction issues further complicate the matter since Native American Reservations are sovereign nations,.

Thurston County, home to two Native American Reservations, served as a case study to perform a safety analysis for vehicles transporting hazardous material. Stakeholders within the county from tribal, county, and state levels were …

Editorial: Let's Talk About P(Ee), Brooke Mayer

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Practitioner points

• Phosphorus recycling and reuse are imperative, and the water industry has an important role to play in this effort.
• Technologies capable of removing phosphorus to ultra-low levels and subsequent recovery for phosphorus reuse are needed.
• Inorganic ion exchange resins and organic bioadsorbents are promising for phosphorus removal and recovery as part of the waste-to-resource paradigm.

Compound Extremes Drive The Western Oregon Wildfires Of September 2020, John T. Abatzoglou, David E. Rupp, Larry W. O'Neill, Mojtaba Sadegh

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Several very large high‐impact fires burned nearly 4,000 km² of mesic forests in western Oregon during September 7–9, 2020. While infrequent, very large high‐severity fires have occurred historically in western Oregon, the extreme nature of this event warrants analyses of climate and meteorological drivers. A strong blocking pattern led to an intrusion of dry air and strong downslope east winds in the Oregon Cascades following a warm‐dry 60‐day period that promoted widespread fuel flammability. Viewed independently, both the downslope east winds and fuel dryness were extreme, but not unprecedented. However, the concurrence of these drivers resulted in compound extremes …

A Magneto-Mechanical Piezoelectric Energy Harvester Designed To Scavenge Ac Magnetic Field From Thermal Power Plant With Power-Line Cables, Quan Wang, Kyung-Bum Kim, Sang-Bum Woo, Yooseob Song, Tae-Hyun Sang

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Piezoelectric energy harvesters have attracted much attention because they are crucial in portable industrial applications. Here, we report on a high-power device based on a magneto-mechanical piezoelectric energy harvester to scavenge the AC magnetic field from a power-line cable for industrial applications. The electrical output performance of the harvester (×4 layers) reached an output voltage of 60.8 V_max, an output power of 215 mW_max (98 mW_rms), and a power density of 94.5 mW_max/cm³ (43.5 mW_rms/cm³) at an impedance matching of 5 kΩ under a magnetic field of 80 …

Editorial: Forest Management Alters Forest Water Use And Drought Vulnerability, Christina Tague, Matthew D. Hurteau, Anthony J. Parolari

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

This collection of papers provides new insights into how forest management, forest water use and droughts are interrelated. The collection considers both ecohydrologic impacts of changes in forest density (through thinning or fire) and impacts that could occur via species management.

Modeling Considerations For Built-Up Compression Members In Communication Towers, Ghada M. El-Mahdy P.Eng., Ceng, Amro A. Alawamry

Civil Engineering

It is a well-established fact that built-up compression members exhibit extra flexibility than their equivalent solid members due to the shear action which effects the overall stability. This is usually taken into consideration by using a modified slenderness ratio for buckling modes that involve relative deformation of the interconnectors. Built-up members are often used as space truss members in communication towers. When modeling communication towers in structural analysis programs like SAP2000, the built-up member is usually defined as a single member element with a double section cross section. This does not catch the increase in deflection in the member due …

Evaluation Of Permanent Concrete Barriers To Mash 2016, Samuel Elias Hovde

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

The objective of this research project was to develop evaluation criteria for permanent concrete barriers to MASH 2016 TL-3 and TL-4 without crash testing and then to evaluate permanent concrete barrier standards provided by the sponsoring agencies of the Midwest Pooled Fund Program. A literature review was conducted to determine evaluation criteria for stability, shape, strength, and anchorage, and a database of permanent concrete barrier crash tests was compiled. A survey was conducted to collect barrier standards from the members of the Midwest Pooled Fund Program, and barriers were selected and evaluated according to the determined methodology. A total of …

A Flexible Piezoelectric Energy Harvester-Based Single-Layer Ws2 Nanometer 2d Material For Self-Powered Sensors, Quan Wang, Kyung-Bum Kim, Sang Bum Woo, Yooseob Song, Tae Hyun Sung

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

A piezoelectric sensor is a typical self-powered sensor. With the advantages of a high sensitivity, high frequency band, high signal-to-noise ratio, simple structure, light weight, and reliable operation, it has gradually been applied to the field of smart wearable devices. Here, we first report a flexible piezoelectric sensor (FPS) based on tungsten disulfide (WS₂) monolayers that generate electricity when subjected to human movement. The generator maximum voltage was 2.26 V, and the produced energy was 55.45 μJ of the electrical charge on the capacitor (capacity: 220 μF) when applying periodic pressing by 13 kg. The generator demonstrated here …

Quantifying Surface Morphology Of Manufactured Activated Carbon And The Waste Coffee Grounds Using The Getis-Ord-Gi* Statistic And Ripley’S K Function, Sanghoon Lee, Sukjoon Na, Olivia G. Rogers, Sungmin Youn

All Engineering Faculty Research

Activated carbon can be manufactured from waste coffee grounds via physical and/or chemical activation processes. However, challenges remain to quantify the differences in surface morphology between manufactured activated carbon granules and the waste coffee grounds. This paper presents a novel quantitative method to determine the quality of the physical and chemical activation processes performed in the presence of intensity inhomogeneity and identify surface characteristics of manufactured activated carbon granules and the waste coffee grounds. The spatial density was calculated by the Getis-Ord-Gi* statistic in scanning electron microscopy images. The spatial characteristics were determined by analyzing Ripley’s K function and complete …

The Role Of Rejuvenators In Embedded Damage Healing For Asphalt Pavement, Shi Xu, Xueyan Liu, Amir Tabakovic, P Lin, Y Zhang, S Nahar, B J. Lommerts, Erik Schlangen

Articles

Rejuvenator encapsulation technique showed great potential for extrinsic asphalt pavement damage healing. Once the capsules are embedded within asphalt pavement, the healing is activated on-demand via progressing microcrack. When the microcrack encounters the capsule, the fracture energy at the tip opens the capsule and releases the rejuvenator. Then the released rejuvenator wets the crack surfaces, diffuses into and softens the aged bitumen, allowing two broken edges to come in the contact, preventing further asphalt pavement deterioration. The quality and speed of the damage repair process strongly depend on the quality of rejuvenator, thus it is important to choose a proper …

An Integrated Software And Hardware Architecture For Gravity-Driven And Remotely-Operated Water Release, Dogukan Ozecik

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study proposes an integrated real-time hardware and software architecture for gravity-driven and remotely-operated water release from storage units such as detention ponds, reservoirs, and wetlands using a siphon and conventional drainage pipe system. The hardware involves a communication component, a control function component, and a hydraulics component. The communication component consists of a Virtual Private Network (VPN) router that collects the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) data and sends it to the remote center. The hydraulics hardware consists of an actuated butterfly valve, water level sensor, bilge pump, and air vent. Multiple flow release tests were carried out at …

The Influence Of Channel Deepening On Tides, River Discharge Effects, And Storm Surge, Stefan A. Talke, Ramin Familkhalili, David A. Jay

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

We combine archival research, semi-analytical models, and numerical simulations to address the following question: how do changes to channel geometry alter tidal properties and flood dynamics in a hyposynchronous, strongly frictional estuary with a landward decay in tidal amplitudes? Records in the Saint Johns River Estuary since the 1890s show that tidal range has doubled in Jacksonville, Florida. Near the estuary inlet, tidal discharge approximately doubled but tidal amplitudes increased only ~6%. Modeling shows that increased shipping channel depths from 5-6 to ~13m drove the observed changes, with other factors like channel shortening and width reduction producing comparatively minor effects. …

Pooling Data Improves Multimodel Idf Estimates Over Median-Based Idf Estimates: Analysis Over The Susquehanna And Florida, Abhishekh Kumar Srivastava, Richard Grotjahn, Paul Aaron Ullrich, Mojtaba Sadegh

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Traditional multimodel methods for estimating future changes in precipitation intensity, duration, and frequency (IDF) curves rely on mean or median of models’ IDF estimates. Such multimodel estimates are impaired by large estimation uncertainty, shadowing their efficacy in planning efforts. Here, assuming that each climate model is one representation of the underlying data generating process, i.e., the Earth system, we propose a novel extension of current methods through pooling model data: (i) evaluate performance of climate models in simulating the spatial and temporal variability of the observed annual maximum precipitation (AMP), (ii) bias-correct and pool historical and future AMP data of …

Impact Of Particle Surface Charge Heterogeneity On Deposition Onto Flat Surfaces And Transport In Porous Media, Thompson Delon

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

Biological and non-biological natural colloids are anisotropic and ubiquitously exist in groundwater. Previously in colloid transport modelling, colloids are assumed to be homogenous for simplification, whether in shape or surface charge. More research has been done to incorporate surface heterogeneity in the transport experiment, i.e., surface charge heterogeneity on collector in column experiment. However, few studies have been done on surface heterogeneity on colloids themselves.

In this dissertation, Janus particles with different surface charge was developed to model surface heterogeneity on colloids. The interaction energy between Janus particle and flat surfaces was analyzed through DLVO simulation. It was discovered that …

Probabilistic Prediction Model For Rc Bond Failure Mode, Ahmad Soraghi, Qindan Huang

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Adequate rebar-concrete bonding is crucial to ensure the reliable performance of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Many factors such as the concrete properties, concrete cover depth, transverse reinforcement, and the presence of corrosion will affect the bond behavior, and consequently, the structural performance. While many prior studies have focused on the influence of the aforementioned factors on the bond strength, the impact of these factors on the bond failure mode has not been thoroughly investigated. A probabilistic bond failure mode prediction model that considers various influencing factors including loading type and corrosion is developed in this study. This study uses the …

Advanced Concrete Composites For Improved Performance: A Bibliometric Survey, Dhruv Patel, Aryan Tiwari, Nishnat Nikhare, Rohit Shinde, Ashutosh Dubey, Manan Shah, Shalaka Hire, Sayali Sandbhor

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Concrete is the core component of any civil engineering construction. Conventional concrete can be modified depending upon the needs and requirements of the construction. Such concrete is called advanced concrete and this report aims to study advanced concrete and its composites. The main objective of this report is to perform a bibliographic survey on the latest research literature available under the domain of advanced concrete composites for improved performance. Timespan considered for the survey is from the year 2015 to 2020. The bibliographic survey consists of literature from online platforms such as the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus database. …

Alternative Connections For Accelerated Construction Of Simple For Dead Load And Continuous For Live Load Steel Bridge System, Amir Sadeghnejad

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The simple for dead load and continuous for live load (SDCL) steel bridge system has been implemented in non-seismic areas with desirable field performance. However, in seismic areas, the application of the SDCL steel bridge system has not been implemented due to a lack of verified seismic details. A connection for the steel girders over an intermediate pier using a concrete diaphragm suitable for seismic areas was developed using numerical analysis. The field application of the developed connection required experimental verification and validation.

One of the main objectives of this study was experimental verification of the developed detail under seismic …

Evaluation Of Parametric And Nonparametric Statistical Models In Wrong-Way Driving Crash Severity Prediction, Sajidur Rahman Nafis

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Wrong-way driving (WWD) crashes result in more fatalities per crash, involve more vehicles, and cause extended road closures compared to other types of crashes. Although crashes involving wrong-way drivers are relatively few, they often lead to fatalities and serious injuries. Researchers have been using parametric statistical models to identify factors that affect WWD crash severity. However, these parametric models are generally based on several assumptions, and the results could generate numerous errors and become questionable when these assumptions are violated. On the other hand, nonparametric methods such as data mining or machine learning techniques do not use a predetermined functional …

Evaluating The Sustainability Of Infrastructure Projects During Front-End Planning Phase, Valentina Ferrer Rivero

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Front-End Planning (FEP) for Sustainable Infrastructure (SI) projects is a promising process that can support addressing multiple challenges in infrastructure projects (i.e. cost overruns, schedule delays, and poor sustainability). This study aims to investigate synergies between sustainability and FEP tools for infrastructures through stakeholders’ surveys, multiple case-study analyses, and a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) activity with students. The PBL activity enhanced students’ knowledge on FEP for SI projects, and, together with other analyses, it helped in defining three different frameworks that correlate sustainability and FEP tools for infrastructure projects. The findings of this thesis contribute to the infrastructure, engineering and construction …

Experimental Investigations Of The Aerodynamics And Wind Loading Of Buildings With Balconies, Lisette Ludena

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Balconies constitute an important element of the building design, especially in areas with a mild climate where they represent a characteristic component of the local architecture and provide the occupants an easy access to the environment. Nevertheless, in parallel with the aesthetics and functionality, balconies have an effect on the wind loading of buildings and if poorly designed it could bring catastrophic accidents. Failure of balcony glass handrail panels has been a frequent occurrence during past windstorms. Such failure poses safety concerns for the building residents and generates wind-borne debris affecting other structures downwind. The current methodology for establishing the …

Feasibility Of Using A High-Power Electromagnetic Energy Harvester To Power Structural Health Monitoring Sensors And Systems In Transportation Infrastructures, Mohsen Amjadian, Anil K. Agrawal, Hani Nassif

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper investigates the feasibility of an electromagnetism energy harvester (EMEH) for scavenging electric energy from transportation infrastructures and powering of conventional sensors used for their structural health monitoring. The proposed EMEH consists of two stationary layers of three cuboidal permanent magnets (PMs), a rectangular thick aircore copper coil (COIL) attached to the free end of a flexible cantilever beam whose fixed end is firmly attached to the highway bridge oscillating in the vertical motion due to passing traffic. The proposed EMEH utilizes the concept of creating an alternating array of permanent magnets to achieve strong and focused magnetic field …

Soil Improvement By Electro-Osmotic Consolidation: Laboratory Testing, Yenni Mariana Ramírez-Mazo, Juan Pablo Osorio, Sergio C. Agudelo-Flórez

Conference papers

Electro-osmotic consolidation is a ground improvement technique that has been successfully implemented on the field and at laboratory scale since the 30s. However, its application has been done primarily through empirical procedures and experience. The determinant variables in the effectiveness and efficiency of the improvement are numerous and require further studies. This paper presents the evaluation of the improvement process of an inorganic low plasticity clay subjected to a 150 V/m voltage during 5780 minutes. The special analysis of the strains showed differential settlements, as well as cracking at the surface and with depth. The consolidations curves obtained follow the …

The Prospect Of Microwave Heating: Towards A Faster And Deeper Crack Healing In Asphalt Pavement, Shi Xu, Xueyan Liu, Amir Tabakovic, Erik Schlangen

Articles

Microwave heating has been shown to be an effective method of heating asphalt concrete and in turn healing the damage. As such, microwave heating holds great potential in rapid (1–3 min) and effective damage healing, resulting in improvement in the service life, safety, and sustainability of asphalt pavement. This study focused on the microwave healing effect on porous asphalt concrete. Steel wool fibres were incorporated into porous asphalt to improve the microwave heating efficiency, and the optimum microwave heating time was determined. Afterwards, the microwave healing efficiency was evaluated using a semi–circular bending and healing programme. The results show that …

Accelerated Controller Tuning For Wind Turbines Under Multiple Hazards, Aly Mousaad Aly, Milad Rezaee

Faculty Publications

During their lifecycle, wind turbines can be subjected to multiple hazard loads, such as high-intensity wind, earthquake, wave, and mechanical unbalance. Excessive vibrations, due to these loads, can have detrimental effects on energy production, structural lifecycle, and the initial cost of wind turbines. Vibration control by various means, such as passive, active, and semi-active control systems provide crucial solutions to these issues. We developed a novel control theory that enables semi-active controller tuning under the complex structural behavior and inherent system nonlinearity. The proposed theory enables the evaluation of semi-active controllers’ performance of multi-degrees-of-freedom systems, without the need for time-consuming …

Machine Learning Methods To Map Stabilizer Effectiveness Based On Common Soil Properties, Amit Gajurel, Bhaskar Chittoori, Partha Sarathi Mukherjee, Mojtaba Sadegh

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Most chemical stabilization guidelines for subgrade/base use unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of treated soils as the primary acceptance criteria for selecting optimum stabilizer in laboratory testing. Establishing optimal additive content to augment UCS involves a resource-intensive trial-and-error procedure. Also, samples collected from discrete locations for laboratory trials may not be representative of the overall site. This study aims to minimize the number of laboratory trials and help strategize sampling locations by developing spatial maps of UCS at different treatment levels for lime and cement. These spatial maps were developed using machine-learning techniques, and using a database compiled from various reported …

A Comparison Of Porphyrin Photosensitizers In Photodynamic Inactivation Of Rna And Dna Bacteriophages, Joe Heffron, Matthew Bork, Brooke Mayer, Troy Skwor

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Effective broad-spectrum antiviral treatments are in dire need as disinfectants and therapeutic alternatives. One such method of disinfection is photodynamic inactivation, which involves the production of reactive oxygen species from dissolved oxygen in response to light-stimulated photosensitizers. This study evaluated the efficacy of functionalized porphyrin compounds for photodynamic inactivation of bacteriophages as human virus surrogates. A blue-light light emitting diode (LED) lamp was used to activate porphyrin compounds in aqueous solution (phosphate buffer). The DNA bacteriophages ΦX174 and P22 were more resistant to porphyrin TMPyP photodynamic inactivation than RNA bacteriophage fr, with increasing rates of inactivation in the order: ΦX174 …

Initial Assessment Of Liquefied Scrap Tire Concrete, Abdulkareem Kuaryouti, Christopher D. Eamon

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research Publications

A new approach to incorporate scrap tire material into concrete was investigated, where two reclaimed waste tire components, carbon black and fuel oil, were used to replace a portion of water. The effect of “liquid tire” content to water ratios from 5-40% on an otherwise typical concrete mix were assessed, where compressive and flexural strength, flexural toughness, modulus of elasticity, and several fresh concrete properties were determined. Results were compared to typically expected results of traditional shredded tire mixes with equivalent tire content. It was found that the liquid tire mixes experienced significantly less losses of compressive strength and workability …

Adaptive Signal System Safety Impacts Final Report, Mashrur Chowdhury, Weiman Jin, M. Sabbir Salek, Sakib Mahmud Khan, Katherine Brunk, Patrick Gerard, Nathan Huynh, Mohammad Torkjazi

Publications

The research team conducted a literature review and a nation-wide survey at the beginning of the research. The literature review revealed that Adaptive Signal Control System (ASCS) was effective in reducing crashes in some studies, while in other studies, the crash reduction due to ASCS was not statistically significant. Twenty-eight states participated in the nation-wide survey and helped the research team identify corridor characteristics, such as the design speed and Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) of an ASCS corridor, which would allow for the best operational and safety outcomes. Then, to determine the safety effects of ASCS, the research team …

Quantifying Materials Waste In The Egyptian Construction Industry: A Critical Analysis Of Rates And Factors, Ayman Ahmed Ezzat Othman, Ahmed Osama Daoud Dr., Obas John Ebohon, Ali Bayyati

Architectural Engineering

Construction and demolition waste (CDW) is a critical challenge facing the construction industry. It leads to deterioration of the triple bottom line of sustainability. Unfortunately, the CDW management research in Egypt lacks studies investigating (1) the variations in CDW generation (CDWG) among different types of construction projects, and (2) the factors affecting CDW reduction (CDWR). Based on a benchmarking approach, this research (1) quantifies CDW in terms of generation rates and costs among different construction project types in Egypt, and (2) investigates the relationship between CDWG and different adopted CDWR factors. Using structured interviews, a comparative case study was conducted …