Engineering Commons^™

Potential Of Stamp Sands As Cemented Tailings, Samuel Sukaria

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Worldwide mine tailings ponds and reservoirs occupy some 534 billion m³ of space with the volume expected to increase as economic demand for minerals increases over the next decades. These reservoirs produce adverse effects on local communities and ecosystems through structural failure resulting in mass flooding events, drainage of pollutants into water supply and emissions of airborne particulate matter. Methods developed to find use for tailings include extraction of residual minerals and aggregates in construction materials. The latter method has already been used in mining operations to stabilize mining reservoirs and stopes, and as placement for temporary road work …

Pile Setup Effects On Driven Piles In Southeastern Coastal States, Peya Sharif

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The resistance of driven piles typically increases with time after installation, a phenomenon known as pile setup. This behavior is primarily associated with the dissipation of excess porewater pressure and the progressive reconsolidation of soil surrounding the pile shaft, particularly it is observed in cohesive soils. Although several empirical and analytical models have been proposed to estimate pile setup, their practical implementation in foundation design remains limited due to uncertainties associated with soil conditions, pile geometry, resistance variability, and time dependent behavior. To address some of these uncertainties, this study collected 221 pile load test data at the End of …

A Real-Time Autonomous Mobile Robotic System For Crack Detection And 3d Laser Profiling In Construction Using Two-Stage Deep Learning, Emmanuella Ogun

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This thesis presents an autonomous mobile robotic system that integrates real-time visual crack detection with laser-based three-dimensional profiling for building inspection. The system coordinates SLAM-based navigation, deep learning perception, and manipulator-guided measurement within a unified ROS 2 framework, enabling scan-on-demand workflows where laser profiling occurs selectively at visually detected defect locations. The detection pipeline employs a two-stage architecture combining U-Net semantic segmentation with Pix2Pix residual refinement, achieving 73.9% mean intersection-over-union and 76.4% F1-score on the CrackSeg9k benchmark while maintaining 16 frames-per-second real-time throughput. Real-world validation demonstrated 95% detection success on 80 campus images under challenging conditions. The profiling subsystem utilizes …

Sustainable Nutrient Management Opportunities For Small Communities In The U.S. With Lagoon Wastewater Treatment Systems, Denis Sigei Ruto

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Lagoon wastewater treatment systems are among the most widely used secondary treatment technologies serving small and rural communities in the United States due to their low capital and operating costs, minimal energy requirements, and operational simplicity. While effective for removal of organic matter and suspended solids, most lagoon systems were not designed to achieve advanced nutrient removal. As regulatory priorities increasingly emphasize control of total nitrogen and total phosphorus to protect receiving waters and public health, lagoon-dependent communities face growing compliance challenges. These challenges are exacerbated by aging infrastructure, limited technical capacity, financial constraints, and insufficient infrastructure data, highlighting the …

Effects Of Metals On Persulfate Activation For The Decomposition Of Pfas, Malu Deav Devadasan

Civil Engineering Dissertations

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent environmental contaminants widely used in industrial and consumer products due to their unique physicochemical properties. Their resistance to degradation, potential for bioaccumulation, and associated adverse health effects have prompted increasing regulatory attention, including the establishment of drinking water standards for six PFAS compounds by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2024.

Current PFAS treatment technologies are often energy-intensive and costly or generate secondary waste streams requiring further management. Meanwhile, this research investigated transition metal-catalyzed advanced oxidation processes for PFAS decomposition in water under ambient conditions. Previous studies demonstrated effective degradation of perfluorocarboxylic acids …

Anaerobic Digestion Of Food Waste Components: Modeling Biogas Production, Opeyemi E. Adelegan

Civil Engineering Dissertations

Food waste constitutes the single largest component of municipal solid waste landfilled in the United States — approximately 22% of 292.4 million tons generated in 2018 — and its anaerobic decomposition releases methane, a greenhouse gas with global warming potential approximately 27–30 times that of carbon dioxide over a 100-year horizon (IPCC, 2021). Anaerobic digestion (AD) offers an alternative management pathway that recovers energy and produces nutrient-rich digestate, but AD performance varies by as much as five-fold across food waste streams (130–630 m³ CH₄ per Mg VS added), and existing predictive tools either treat food waste as a …

Feasibility Study Of Concurrent Removal Of Organics And Ammonium Using An Iron Dosed Upflow Anaerobic Sludge-Blanket Bioreactor, Morgan Elizabeth Amos

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Aerobic microbial reactions have commonly been utilized in treatment processes to oxidize and remove organics and nitrogen through aeration, using processes such as nitrification that converts ammonium (NH₄⁺) into nitrite (NO₂^-) and nitrate (NO₃^-). Anoxic microbial reactions like denitrification often require organic compounds as an external source to chemically reduce the oxidized nitrogen (NO₃^- and NO₂^-) to nitrogen gas (N₂) for nitrogen removal from the liquid phase. These mainstream processes have a high chemical cost and energy footprint which results in an increased release …

Smart Dynamic Concrete: Effect Of Coarse Aggregate Size Distribution On Fresh, Mechanical And Durability Properties, Venu Sipelli, Kamineni Aditya, Shravya Sripadapu

Mansoura Engineering Journal

SDC is a self-flowing concrete that demonstrates improved material efficiency through optimized aggregate gradation. Unlike SCC, which relies on high powder content for improved flowability, SDC provides improved flowability by optimized aggregate gradation, making it a promising alternative to SCC. This paper presents the fresh, mechanical, and durability performance of M40-grade SDC using OPC 53 grade cement, GGBS, CRF, and polycarboxylate-based superplasticizer. A constant cementitious content of 470 kg/m³ and water–cement ratio of 0.38 were maintained. The fresh, mechanical, and durability performances of SDC using three types of coarse aggregate combinations, namely, 70% 10 mm + 30% 20 mm, 75% …

Discrete Element Modeling Of Granular Soils: Critical State Behavior Applied To Impact Pile Driving, Esteban Patino Marin

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This thesis investigates the use of the Discrete Element Method (DEM) to study two complementary aspects of granular soil mechanics: critical state behavior of granular materials and dynamic response of driven piles in sand, both of which are governed by the same particle-scale mechanisms of dilation, contraction, and fabric evolution.

The first examines the critical state behavior and fabric anisotropy of granular soils through DEM simulations of direct shear, direct simple shear, and true triaxial tests. Sphere-cluster particles representative of a uniform sand are used in two assemblages of approximately twenty-five thousand and one hundred twenty-five thousand spheres to evaluate …

Statewide Corridor Evacuation Response And Re-Entry Behaviors In Florida During Hurricane Irma, Xin Wang, Yuan Zhu, Hong Yang, Kun Xie

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Hurricane Irma stands as one of the most destructive tropical storms to make landfall in the United States, particularly impacting the State of Florida, where it prompted the largest evacuation in history with approximately 7 million residents. The profound consequences of mass evacuation underscore the critical need to understand travel behaviors during hurricane evacuation and the recovery process. This research analyzes statewide evacuation and re-entry patterns, leveraging diverse datasets, including TTMS data from main corridors and GIS data. A statewide corridor-based empirical analysis framework is constructed to characterize evacuation and re-entry response patterns using sensor-based traffic observations. The results show …

Generating Boundary Conditions For Compound Flood Modeling In A Probabilistic Framework, Pravin Maduwantha Mahanthe Gamage

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Flooding in coastal riverine environments is often driven by the combined influence of multiple hydrometeorological flood drivers, including storm surge, rainfall, waves, and river discharge, which is referred to as compound flooding. A robust flood hazard assessment requires simulation of a wide range of flood driver conditions through dynamic compound flood models to capture the variability in resultant flooding. However, such assessments remain limited by the short length of observational records and the high computational cost of physics-based methods used to generate temporally varying boundary conditions. This dissertation develops a statistical framework to characterize compound flood drivers and generate large …

Integrated Corridor Management Framework For Severe Freeway Incidents, Sanjida Afroz Iqra

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Traffic incidents are a major source of non-recurrent congestion on urban freeways, generating substantial mobility, safety, and economic impacts. Severe incidents that block multiple or all travel lanes are particularly disruptive because they degrade freeway operations and propagate congestion onto surrounding arterials. Effective Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) requires the ability to identify severe incidents, estimate their network-wide impacts, and anticipate the traffic conditions and driver behaviors that contribute to instability. This dissertation develops a data-driven ICM framework to address these challenges using real-world incident, crash, detector, and connected vehicle data from major Central Florida corridors, including I-4 and SR-417. The …

Assessing Dissolved Organic Matter Sources And Dynamics In Urban Stormwater: Implications For Greenhouse Gases, Harper W. Schmalz

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Stormwater management ponds (SWMPs) are important aspects of land-use planning and increasingly recognized as active sites of biogeochemical processing that influence carbon cycling; however, little research has investigated the controls on dissolved organic and dissolved inorganic carbon (DOC and DIC) within these systems. This thesis examined the processing and transformations of dissolved carbon between three compartments to support the development of a greenhouse gas (GHG) box-model for urban stormwater ponds, including SWMP sediment, surface water, and vegetation. The objective of this thesis was to assess the biogeochemical processes that govern the rate and transformation of DOC and DIC between these …

Assessing Modular And Conventional Construction For Sustainable Student Housing At The University Of Rhode Island: A Life Cycle Approach, Lasse Franzen

Open Access Master's Theses

The building sector accounts for a significant share of global greenhouse gas emissions, with embodied impacts gaining importance as operational efficiency improves. Modular construction is frequently proposed as a lower-impact alternative to conventional site-built methods, yet reported findings remain inconsistent, and no comparative study of student housing was identified in the reviewed literature. This thesis compares the embodied environmental impacts of two student housing developments at the University of Rhode Island: the New University Housing Project (NUHP), a hybrid development combining a site-built concrete and steel podium with a factory-built volumetric timber module superstructure, and Brookside Hall, a conventional site-built …

Prediction Of Maximum Local Scour Depth Due To Horizontal Jets Of Flushing Gate Using Artificial Neural Network, Adhy Kurniawan, Muhammad Sulaiman, Agus Maryono, Bambang Agus Kironoto, Amalia Ula Hazhiyah

Makara Journal of Technology

Local scour is a serious concern for hydraulic engineers. To maintain the reservoir capacity, flushing accumulated sediment is necessary, resulting in a turbulent and scouring jet from the flushing gate. Predicting the maximum scour depth from these water jets is crucial for civil engineers. Despite many proposed equations, one have shown consistent applicability due to the complex nature of the process. Ensuring accurate prediction between hydraulic parameters and the geometry of the scour hole in prototype experiments remains a key issue. To address this issue, this paper examines the use of artificial neural network (ANN) analysis as a computing device …

Compression Forming Of Basic Oxygen Furnace Slag-Gypsum Blocks: Performance Enhancement And Environmental Assessment, Fengyi Zhang

Student Works (2020-2029)

The construction industry plays a crucial role in global development but faces significant environmental challenges, particularly CO2 emissions from cement production. Gypsum blocks provide a sustainable alternative to traditional cement concrete blocks. However, the low mechanical strength and water resistance of gypsum materials limit the widespread adoption of gypsum-based materials in the construction industry. This study initially produced gypsum-based blocks using compression forming, adding supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), and subjecting accelerated carbonation curing (ACC). It was found that compression forming addressed the shortcomings of traditional block manufacturing (high energy consumption and long production time), and the addition of SCMs generated …

Flood Prediction With Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar From Hurricane Helene, Jingyu Xiao, Jessica Li

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

Floods are the most common natural disaster globally, causing thousands of deaths every year. Timely and accurate flood forecasts are crucial for developing early warning systems, evacuation plans, and effective strategies to enhance community resilience. Soil moisture is an important parameter in flood forecasting. Unfortunately, existing soil moisture sensor networks and optical remote sensing–based techniques for soil moisture estimation lack the spatial resolution needed for accurate flood forecasting. This study presents an approach for flood prediction using Sentinel-1 C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. SAR offers high spatial resolution and operates day and night under all weather conditions, making it …

An Integrated Multivariate Econometric Modeling Framework For Risky Driving Behavior Related Crashes: Evaluating Crash Risk And Severity Across Zones, Pabitra Kumar Roy

Dissertations and Theses

Rapid advancements in crash modeling have yet to fully integrate multiple behavior-driven crash types and their severity outcomes within a single, scalable framework, specially in a way that captures the sequential nature of these behaviors where one risky action may amplify another. This study proposed an integrated multivariate econometric framework to jointly model crash frequency and severity outcomes for three major behaviorally driven crash types: alcohol-related, distraction-related, and aggressive-driving-related crashes. Specifically, using Oregon's 2022 census block group-level crash data, we propose an Integrated Multivariate Negative Binomial – Generalized Ordered Probit Fractional Split (IMNB–GOPFS) model to analyze these dimensions simultaneously while …

Traffic Study, Kennedy Case, Koryn Harms, Min Kaung, Abel Assefa, Eli Lockert, Dj Church

Student Scholar Symposium

No abstract provided.

Gaylord Opryland Congestion Reduction, Kennedy Case

Student Scholar Symposium

Lipscomb University’s College of Engineering is working collaboratively with Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center to explore potential solutions to its traffic congestion problem, particularly during peak times such as the holiday season. This research aims to identify strategies that can alleviate congestion in the resort area. With over one million visitors during the holiday season each year and limited parking capacity, the traffic congestion poses a significant challenge to both operational efficiency and visitor experience. The primary objective of this research is to identify strategies that optimize parking usage, reduce congestion, and improve the overall visitor experience. Beginning with …

Green Roof, Elizabeth Fulton

Student Scholar Symposium

Green roofs, a concept dating back over 100 years, offer a sustainable solution to urban environmental challenges such as poor air quality, the urban heat island effect, and increased stormwater runoff. This study focuses on green roofs as an effective way to address these issues in cities like Nashville, which are experiencing rapid urbanization. By transforming rooftops into green spaces, green roofs can improve air quality, manage stormwater, and reduce urban heat, while also enhancing the aesthetic value of urban environments. The research explores the integration of green roofs, considering factors like substrate composition, plant selection, and environmental conditions. Key …

Smart Traffic Lights, Roa Ghanem

Student Scholar Symposium

Nashville is quickly growing, and as a result, traffic congestion is becoming a bigger challenge for commuters. Longer travel times and increased vehicle emissions are major concerns. This research examines how smart traffic lights can improve traffic flow and reduce congestion in the city. By analyzing peer-reviewed journal articles, this study explores how AI, IoT, and machine learning can optimize traffic signal timing in real time. In particular, simulation models illustrate how these technologies adapt dynamically to changing traffic patterns in cities similar to Nashville. Furthermore, this research compares the cost-effectiveness of smart traffic lights with other solutions, such as …

Ai Photography-Based Gradation Feasibility Study For Streams And Rivers In Davidson County, Tn, Nolen Ritzel, Lauren Baker

Student Scholar Symposium

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has demonstrated significant potential in engineering applications, specifically in soil gradation analysis using two-dimensional imagery. While studies have shown experimental success, AI-based soil gradation methods are not widely used in industry due to the lack of field research performed. Moreover, the current methodology is suitable but lacks advancement. The motivation behind the research was to aid in bridging this gap between experimental research and industry application by determining whether existing AI tools can and/or should be applied to bank soil in streams and rivers in the Greater Nashville Area. Several locations next to streams and rivers distributed …

Xibalbay, Guatemala Water Distribution System Design, Nolen Ritzel, Lauren Baker, Robert Trey Owen, Jessamine Reckard, Joelle Noble, Sara Berry-Brown

Student Scholar Symposium

This study presents the design and validation of a water distribution system for Xibalbay, Guatemala, in collaboration with the Peugeot Center and a local Guatemalan engineering firm, ADICAY. The project aimed to ensure reliable water access while maintaining residual pressures to the US standard, between 20 to 120 psi. The proposed design was a two pressure-zone system with pumps in series. A comprehensive hydraulic model was developed using WaterGEMS to analyze system pressures, pump performance, and tank levels under various conditions. Limited on-site testing was performed by this team due to construction delays and electricity issues at the time of …

Evaluating The Impact Of Precast Vs. Cast-In-Place Concrete: A Life Cycle Assessment Of A Parking Garage In Nashville, Robert Trey Owen

Student Scholar Symposium

Concrete is one of the most widely used building materials in the construction industry, generating $64 billion in revenue, according to the Concrete Financial Insights Index. Given the material’s extensive use, construction professionals seek ways to optimize construction project budgets and schedules. Precast concrete, which is manufactured offsite and then transported to the project when needed, is a potential solution for these goals. This research aims to quantify the benefits of precast concrete over typical cast-in-place methods using a life cycle analysis for a parking garage structure located in Nashville Tennessee.

The data for the two materials will be compared …

Improving Home Affordability In Greater Nashville Through Construction Efficiency And Innovations, Nate Mclain

Student Scholar Symposium

Engineering Greater Nashville Home Affordability

Long Term Financial Analysis For Opry Mills Hotel And Resort, Eli Lockert

Student Scholar Symposium

In 2024 a Lipscomb Senior Design team completed a design project for the Opryland Hotel. The project, aimed at reducing humidity levels in the large greenhouse-like atrium and overall power usage, included multiple phases and equipment. This research continues the work of that team in an effort to determine whether the proposed system is a cost-effective approach. The research specifically evaluates the system outlined in the Opryland Final Design Report, completed in April of 2024. Using a holistic approach, this study employs life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) to assess the economic feasibility of the proposed system through various empirical methods. A …

Comparative Analysis Of Machine Learning And Statistical Models For Railroad–Highway Grade Crossing Safety, Erickson Senkondo, Deo Chimba, Masanja Madalo, Afia Yeboah, Shala Blue

Civil and Architectural Engineering Faculty Research

Railroad-highway grade crossings (RHGCs) are critical points of conflict between roadway and rail systems, contributing to over 2000 crashes and 250 fatalities annually in the United States. This study applied machine learning methods (ML) techniques to model and predict crash frequency at RHGCs, using a comprehensive dataset from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT). The dataset included 807 validated crossings, incorporating roadway geometry, traffic volumes, rail characteristics, and control features. Five ML models—Random Forest, XGBoost, PSO-Elastic Net, Transformer-CNN, and Autoencoder-MLP—were developed and compared to a traditional Negative Binomial (NB) regression model. Results showed that ML …

Quantifying Benefits Of Biochar With Variable Absorption Capacity As A Partial Cement Replacement In Concrete, Benjamin Shannon

Theses and Dissertations

Extensive research has been conducted on biochar-incorporated concrete. However, no concrete mixture design guideline is currently available for implementing biochar incorporation in practice. The objective of this study was to correlate biochar absorption capacity with the compressive strength of biochar-incorporated concrete, to quantify the benefits of biochar and develop mix design guidelines. Biochar with varying absorption capacities was incorporated into concrete at 10%, 20%, and 40%. Strength and moisture loss were recorded over the 90-day curing period of the biochar-incorporated concrete. Results revealed three main findings: (1) in 10%, 20%, and 40% biochar mixes, the normalized strengths ranged from 0.65–0.85, …

Evaluating Three Lightweight Airfield Matting Systems Under F-35b Aircraft Loading, Brett D. Cobb

Theses and Dissertations

Aircraft matting has been in service since WWII. It has provided a maneuverable substrate to allow aircraft forward operations to take place in austere environments. AM2 is the main matting system that has been used for generations. In recent years, the need for a lightweight matting system has come to the forefront of the matting community. This is not only to improve the maneuverability, but also the shipping restrictions. This research is on three different light weight matting systems above subgrade with two CBR values (i.e., 6 and 25). A specially designed load cart was adopted to simulate F-35B loading. …