Engineering Commons^™

Fast-Pgmed: Fast And Dense Elevation Determination For Earthwork Using Drone And Deep Learning, Sisi Han, Yuhan Jiang, Yong Bai

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

This paper presents a time- and cost-effective elevation determination method for earthwork operations using ready-to-fly imaging drones and deep learning technologies. The proposed method is named the fast pixel grid/group matching and elevation determination (Fast-PGMED) algorithm. The input data are a pair of approximate 2:1-scale top-view images, and the output is the determined elevation map for the scanned station. Feature matching of the two multiscale images is conducted by calculating correlations between target patch predictions (via DeepMatchNet, a fully convolutional network) and potential target patches (via virtual elevation model). The overall processing time is about 21 s …

Building Services Engineering March/April 2022

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Novel Damage Index-Based Rapid Evaluation Of Civil Infrastructure Subsurface Defects Using Thermography Analytics, Tianjie Zhang, Md Asif Rahman, Alex Peterson, Yang Lu

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The qualitative measurement is a common practice in infrastructure condition inspection when using Infrared Thermography (IRT), as it can effectively locate the defected area non-destructively and non-contact. However, a quantitative evaluation becomes more significant because it can help decision makers figure out specific compensation plans to deal with defects. In this work, an IRT-based novel damage index, damage density, was proposed to quantify the significance of subsurface defects. This index is extracted from IR images using our thermography analytics framework. The proposed framework includes thermal image processing, defect edge detection, and thermal gradient map calculations. A modified root mean square …

Post Aerobic Digestion (Pad) Is A Solids Sidestream Nutrient Removal Process That Utilizes Native Carbon: Performance And Key Operational Parameters From Two Full-Scale Pad Reactors, Patrick J. Mcnamara, Fabrizio Sabba, Eric Redmond, Patrick Dunlap, Thomas Worley-Morse, Christopher Marks, Leon Downing

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Nutrient management is a critical issue for Water Resource Recovery Facilities, and sidestream treatment technologies to reduce nutrient loads often focus on liquid sidestreams and require external carbon sources. Post aerobic digestion (PAD), whereby an aerobic digester follows an anaerobic digester, treats a solids stream (i.e., anaerobic digester effluent) to reduce nitrogen loads. Volatile solids reduction occurs in this process with residual organic compounds serving as a native carbon source for denitrification. While this process has been evaluated at the lab-scale, information on operational parameters that affect full-scale performance is limited. We evaluated two separate full-scale PAD reactors …

The Effect Of Concrete Material Properties On Rigid Pavement Design In South Carolina, Nicolet Anne Devine

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents the effect of concrete material inputs on rigid pavement design in the state of South Carolina. The impact of concrete strength input parameters in the historical AASHTO pavement design method and MEPDG method is investigated using three newly constructed concrete sections, I-85 in Cherokee County, I-20 in Lexington County, and I-85 in Spartanburg County. Strength data obtained from the sections were the result of QA/QC testing provided by the SCDOT during construction, as well as from UofSC laboratory testing. The compressive strength data from these tests was correlated to the elastic modulus and modulus of rupture (which …

Coalitional Game Theory For Stormwater Management And Green Infrastructure Practices, Carly Lawyer

Theses and Dissertations

As global warming and climate Variability bring about more frequent and intense rainstorms and accelerate sea level rise, our social and built environments are at heightened risk of flood induced damages and consequent costs. This is particularly true for coastal areas, facing the coupled effects of these threats while serving as home to people, businesses, unique landscapes, and historic landmarks. Complex decisions at all levels of government and community planning stand to benefit from increased understanding of possible outcomes and pathways resulting from decentralized human behavior and decision making in the realm of water resources engineering and management. Game theory …

Classification Of Acoustic Emission Data Into Load Steps Using An Artificial Neural Network, Allen Ross

Theses and Dissertations

The average age of bridges in South Carolina is approaching 40 years, very close to the 50-year service life. Almost 11% of the bridges in South Carolina are rated as structurally deficient, greater than the national average of 7.5% (South 2021). Health monitoring is the concept that in-situ sensors can continuously monitor civil structures and send real time signals of damage. This process allows for automation and could save time and money on the inspection and load rating of bridges. Health monitoring requires sensors that provide uninterrupted data without sacrificing the functionality of the bridge. A prime candidate for this …

Evaluating Climatic Influences On The Technical Performance Of Built Infrastructure Assets, Sarah L. Brown, Steven J. Schuldt, Michael N. Grussing, Michael A. Johnson, Justin D. Delorit

Faculty Publications

Asset performance evaluations serve as a benchmark that can be used to make asset manufacturer selection decisions, i.e., choosing the brand of manufacturer that provides the highest performance among all brand competitors. Understanding the environmental conditions to which assets are subjected provides facility managers another data point to understand asset performance. This research builds upon a previously published performance-based manufacturer selection metric by investigating the linkage between asset performance and exposure to local climate, using chiller and air handler data from 20 United States Air Force installations. The link between environmental factors such as Heating Degree Days (HDD); Cooling Degree …

High-Risk Traffic Crash Pattern Recognition And Identification Using Econometric Models And Machine Learning Models, Runan Yang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Roadway crashes have become a major cause of human deaths and injuries and caused much economic damage. According to World Health Organization (WHO), about 1.35 million people died in traffic crashes and over 50 million people injured from traffic crashes in the year of 2016 (World Health Organization, 2020). Nationally, in the U.S., the latest decade witnessed an increase of over 10% in traffic fatalities (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 2019). Similarly, in state of Florida, the fatal crashes increased by 4.62% from 2019 to 2020 (Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, 2021). To prevent injuries and …

Design And Evaluation Of A Prototype Low-Damage Beam-Column Connection For Mass Timber Moment Frames, Samuel D. Richmann

Civil and Environmental Engineering Master's Project Reports

A moment-resisting, beam-column connection for mass timber moment frames was developed, designed and tested. The design was intended to limit damage to the timber members by creation of a ductile failure mechanism in steel U-shaped flexural plates (UFPs). Using design equations developed by previous research on UFPs by Baird, et al. (2014) as well as accepted design practices from the NDS and AISC, the components were sized to eliminate failure in the timber. The connection was tested using a quasi-static lateral displacement method following the procedure outlined in section K2.4b of AISC 341-16. A vertical load was placed on the …

Assessment Of Scoured Bridges Subjected To Vessel Impact Using Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis, Amir S. Irhayyim

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Scour has been the number one cause of bridge failure in the United States with an average of 22 bridges collapsing or being closed owing to severe deformation each year [1]. This work attempts to deal with two important issues: (1) Potential bridge failures during the co-occurrence of scour and ship impact; (2) Incorporating IDA analysis to predict bridge responses based on barge and collision parameters, and to generate fragility curves to predict the probability of exceedance damage states.

For bridges, flooding is considered the most threatening hazard. According to the National Bridge Inventory (NBI) [2], 500,000 out of 615,000 …

Estimating The As-Placed Grout Volume Of Auger Cast Piles, Tristen Mee

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Augered Cast-in-Place (ACIP) piles are a geotechnical foundation element increasingly used to support large publicly funded structures as an alternative to drilled shafts or driven piles. ACIP piles are constructed by drilling an excavation to the full length of the designed pile with a continuous flight auger. Grout (cement, sand, and water mixture) is then pumped through the hollow auger stem to begin grouting the excavation. After establishing an initial head pressure, the auger is slowly extracted while the remainder of the pile is grouted. Once the auger is completely removed, the steel reinforcement cage is lowered into the grouted …

Using Machine Learning In Estimating Changing Bed Shear Over A Flume Test Box, Ghada S. Ellithy, Siddharth S. Parida

Publications

A dam or levee breach caused by overflow erosion is difficult to evaluate during an overtopping event due to difficulty in accessibility and quickly changing conditions. However, for assessment of risk associated with breach time and ensuing downstream consequences, the erosion rate of embankment soils during this process needs to be evaluated. Soil erosion and water depth measurements were taken during flume tests using a Shallow Water Lidar (SWL) system scans. The tests were conducted in a 1-m-wide tilting flume on three cleans and gravel soil mixes with a median grain size D50of 2, 5,and 20 mm. The box measured …

Effects Of Downdrag On Pile Performance, Malaak Omelia Araujo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

All soils settle under the weight of newly constructed embankments. In the case of MSE wall-type embankments, piles are driven prior to embankment construction. Under the weight of the newly constructed embankment, the soil surrounding the piles may settle more than the piles themselves. This downward movement potentially drags the piles down and induces a force within the pile known as downdrag. The research on the downdrag phenomenon involving cohesionless granular soils is sparse, thus the focus of this study is to investigate the effects of downdrag on pile performance driven in Florida sandy soils. A site consisting of soil …

The Impact Of Land Use Change On Hydrology Using Hydrologic Modelling And Geographical Information System (Gis), Nattachan Luesaksiriwattana

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Surface and groundwater conditions in west-central Florida are highly interactive, with shallow water table and sandy soil. Land use types including forests, agricultural areas, and urbanization affect water resources differently. Change in land use, associated with expanding the urban environment to support human needs, significantly impacts surface water infiltration and runoff characteristics. Construction of infrastructures such as buildings and housing can result less water to infiltrate through the soil, with increased surface water runoff and decline in evapotranspiration. A computerized hydrologic model, Hydrological Simulation Program-FORTRAN (HSPF), couple to a spreadsheet groundwater model and a Geographical Information System (GIS) were applied …

Investigating Lateral Displacement Of Pile Groups Under Construction Loads And Excavation—A Case Study, Thang Pham, Andres Palma, Thuyet Nguyen, Thuy Vu

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Piles in weak soils are sensitive to adjacent excavation and construction loads. Excessive lateral displacement of piles during construction adds shear and bending moment to the piles. This is of great concern because these additional lateral loads are sometimes not accounted for when designing piles, and the horizontal bearing capacity as well as shear strength of the piles is low. This paper presents a case study of a recent project with severe pile damage and large soil displacement during construction due to the installation of adjacent piles and excavating foundation pits. With improper construction procedures, the piles were severely damaged …

Streamlining Project Development Through Planning & Environmental Linkages, Karen Hadley, Brett Lackey

Purdue Road School

As transportation agencies continue to explore ways to be more efficient in the project development process, they are embracing integrated methodologies like planning and environmental linkages. This tool is practical, yet highly effective and inclusive, and teams across the country are experiencing its value. This presentation will highlight a variety of use cases, discuss lessons learned and best practices, and specifically address how planning and environmental linkages can be applied in Indiana and the Midwest.

Big Data Applications: Public Involvement Tools For Public Involvement, Amy L. Livingston, Houssam Ghandour

Purdue Road School

Using big data to better understand origin-destination and regional travel patterns is critical to project development. Tools such as passive geographically based data lead to improved definitions for traffic analysis zones (TAZs), which, in turn, help inform public involvement plans for a more targeted approach and improved equity. This presentation will highlight future planning applications in Indiana and other case examples where we have used big data to aid the plan development of public and stakeholder engagement.

Benthic Biolayer Structure Controls Whole-Stream Reactive Transport, Kevin R. Roche, Marco Dentz

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Hyporheic zone reaction rates are highest just below the sediment-water interface, in a shallow region called the benthic biolayer. Vertical variability of hyporheic reaction rates leads to unexpected reaction kinetics for stream-borne solutes, compared to classical model predictions. We show that deeper, low-reactivity locations within the hyporheic zone retain solutes for extended periods, which delays reactions and causes solutes to persist at higher concentrations in the stream reach than would be predicted by classical approaches. These behaviors are captured by an upscaled model that reveals the fundamental physical and chemical processes in the hyporheic zone. We show how time scales …

Rail: Yesterday, Today, And Tomorrow In Indiana, Indiana State Rail Plan, Vanetta Keffe, Keith Bucklew

Purdue Road School

The Indiana State Rail Plan is focused on improving the mobility, safety, economic development, and environmental stewardship of the state’s multimodal freight system. As the Crossroads of America, Indiana is home to 50 railroads, which deliver freight and Hoosiers to their destinations daily. This session focuses on the development of Indiana’s State Rail Plan and strategies to balance rail, trucking, and inland waterways as complementary modes that together represent the future of cost-efficient freight transportation.

Rehabilitation Of I-70 Composite Pavement Using Peel And Stick Strip Membrane & Geosynthetic Paving Fabric Interlayer, Kumar P. Dave, Pankaj G. Patel

Purdue Road School

I-70 composite (asphalt over concrete) pavement is being rehabilitated using peel and stick membrane and geosynthetic paving fabric. The innovative rehabilitation technique is the first time peel and stick membrane is being used with geosynthetic paving fabric on the existing concrete pavement of the interstate. This combination retards reflective cracking and acts as a moisture barrier, which extends the service life of the treatment.

Understanding Effects Of Permafrost Degradation And Coastal Erosion On Civil Infrastructure In Arctic Coastal Villages: A Community Survey And Knowledge Co-Production, Min Liew, Ming Xiao, Louise Farquharson, Dmitry Nicolsky, Anne Jensen, Vladimir Romanovsky, Jana Peirce, Lilian Alessa, Christopher Mccomb, Xiong Zhang, Benjamin Jones

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents the results of a community survey that was designed to better under-stand the effects of permafrost degradation and coastal erosion on civil infrastructure. Observations were collected from residents in four Arctic coastal communities: Point Lay, Wainwright, Utqiaġvik, and Kaktovik. All four communities are underlain by continuous ice-rich permafrost with varying degrees of degradation and coastal erosion. The types, locations, and periods of observed permafrost thaw and coastal erosion were elicited. Survey participants also reported the types of civil infrastructure being affected by permafrost degradation and coastal erosion and any damage to residential buildings. Most survey participants reported …

Seismic Performance Design Criteria Of Existing Bridge Bent Plastic Hinge Region And Rapid Repair Measures Of Earthquake Damaged Bridges Considering Future Resilience, A K M Golam Murtuz

Dissertations and Theses

The main objective of this research was to evaluate the seismic performance of existing sub-standard reinforced concrete (RC) bridge column-spread footing subassemblies and to quantify the material strain limits through a full-scale experimental program. A total of six column-footing test specimens with pre-1990 construction details were subjected to reverse cyclic lateral loading, utilizing a conventional three-cycle symmetric loading protocol and a protocol representing the demands expected from a CSZ earthquake. Additionally, the tests were designed so that variable axial loading could be applied to simulate the secondary load effects experienced during an earthquake in a column that is part of …

Implementation Of Secondary And Tertiary Treated Wastewater In Concrete Manufacturing, Amany G. Micheal Prof., Haidy Abd El Salm, Gouda Ghanem Prof.

Centre for Advanced Materials

Water scarcity is a problem that faces many regions. In a developing and arid country like Egypt, the need for freshwater is exponentially increasing. This research is an evaluation of the recycled wastewater to be used in concrete manufacturing. The treated wastewater is blended with potable water with percentages of 25%, 50%, and 100%. The mixture of the two types of water is used in concrete mixing and curing. Control specimens with pure potable water are cast for comparison. The setting time for Ordinary Portland Cement is tested using the different water mixes. The hardened concrete is tested in compression …

Groundwater Level Modeling With Machine Learning: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Mojtaba Sadegh

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Groundwater is a vital source of freshwater, supporting the livelihood of over two billion people worldwide. The quantitative assessment of groundwater resources is critical for sustainable management of this strained resource, particularly as climate warming, population growth, and socioeconomic development further press the water resources. Rapid growth in the availability of a plethora of in-situ and remotely sensed data alongside advancements in data-driven methods and machine learning offer immense opportunities for an improved assessment of groundwater resources at the local to global levels. This systematic review documents the advancements in this field and evaluates the accuracy of various models, following …

Copulas For Hydroclimatic Analysis: A Practice-Oriented Overview, Faranak Tootoonchi, Mojtaba Sadegh, Jan Olaf Haerter, Olle Räty, Thomas Grabs, Claudia Teutschbein

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

A warming climate is associated with increasing hydroclimatic extremes, which are often interconnected through complex processes, prompting their concurrence and/or succession, and causing compound extreme events. It is critical to analyze the risks of compound events, given their disproportionately high adverse impacts. To account for the variability in two or more hydroclimatic variables (e.g., temperature and precipitation) and their dependence, a rising number of publications focuses on multivariate analysis, among which the notion of copula-based probability distribution has attracted tremendous interest. Copula is a mathematical function that expresses the joint cumulative probability distribution of multiple variables. Our focus is to …

Defining Resilience, Robustness, And Vulnerability Metrics To Guide Facilities And Infrastructure Decision Making For The United States Air Force, Kelly W. Minor

Theses and Dissertations

Tyndall AFB was nearly destroyed after a category five hurricane named Michael tore through the Florida panhandle in 2018. A Program Management Office was stood up to coordinate, plan, and carry out the rebuild efforts of Tyndall AFB. The office’s primary responsibility is “building a base capable of supporting a 21st-century mission while also focusing on structural resiliency and efficiency” (Laidlaw 2019). Despite the requirement to build a resilient infrastructure portfolio, the United States Air Force has yet to fully quantify and qualify measures of resilience, including robustness and vulnerability, in the context of their current built infrastructure portfolio. This …

Modeling Multimodal Access To Primary Care In An Urban Environment, Danielle Eden Del Conte, Amanda Locascio, Joseph Amoruso, Margaret L. Mcnamara

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Access to primary health care facilities is a key component of public health, and measuring that access is vital to understanding how to target interventions. Transportation is one dimension of access and measuring distance via multiple modes allows better understanding of how varied populations access health care, particularly those who do not have access to a personal vehicle. This work builds on the 2-Step Floating Catchment Area (2SFCA) method to include travel by car, bus, bicycle, and walking. Travel time data are sourced from OpenStreetMap and transit data incorporates stop and schedule information from the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS). …

Investigating The Relationship Of Preventive And Corrective Maintenance In Chiller Assets Using Linear Regression Analysis, Jacob A. Franke

Theses and Dissertations

Asset managers must balance maintenance plans between preventive (PM) and corrective maintenance (CM). While PM plans have been a staple for decades, the benefits achieved have not been thoroughly examined at the asset specific level. This study focuses on the U.S. Air Force chiller portfolio to better understand the relationship between PM and CM, utilizing multiple stages of linear regression modeling and data from 14 US Air Force installations. PM and CM were found to be positively correlated, with PM accounting for relatively small portions of the variance experienced in CM. This study reveals the value of standardized data collection …

A Critical Review Of Climate Change On Coastal Infrastructure Systems, Gregory J. Howland Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a response to climate threats identified by DoD report on Climate Change in 2019. A critical review of climate change literature related to coastal infrastructure was conducted to synthesize past research and to inform future research. This review intends to inform how climate change may impact infrastructure systems, how those impacts are evaluated, can the investigation be improved, and what can stakeholders learn from the outcomes. The end goal is to find climate change mitigation strategies and adaptation measures, or identify the easiest path to get to that end. The compiled information will inform civilian and military …