Engineering Commons^™

Structural And Material Performance Of Rubberized And Hybrid Concrete Pipes, Mohammad Mohammadagha

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

This study investigates how the combination of steel fiber, crumb rubber, synthetic fiber, and conventional steel cage will improve the ductility of regular concrete pipes and thin-walled semi-rigid concrete pipes. In this study, pipes with four different concrete mixtures were produced and tested: (1) Steel Bar Reinforced Concrete Pipe (SBRCP), (2) Crumb Rubber Reinforced Concrete Pipe (CRRCP), (3) Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete Pipe (SFRCP), and (4) Synthetic Fiber Reinforced Concrete Pipe (SNFRCP). This study investigates how the variation of the fiber volume fraction and crumb rubber content in concrete mix affects the behavior of pipes with diameters ranging from 24in. …

Ensemble Streamflow Forecasting For The Upper Trinity River Basin In Texas, Manabendra Saharia

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

By allowing for routine use of longer-lead quantitative precipitation forecast (QPF) in hydrologic prediction, ensemble forecasting offers hope for extending the lead time for short-range streamflow forecasting. In this work, this potential is assessed by comparatively evaluating ensemble streamflow hindcasts forced by Day 1-3 QPF with those forced by Day 1 QPF for five headwater basins in the Upper Trinity River Basin in North Texas. The hindcasts are generated for a 7-year period of 2004 to 2010 using the Hydrologic Ensemble Forecast Service (HEFS), which operates on the Community Hydrologic Prediction System (CHPS) of the National Weather Service (NWS). HEFS …

The Relation Between Freeway Average Speed And Speed Noise, Bahar Zarin

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

A significant amount of energy could be saved by applying traffic management policies. Many factors affect the fuel consumption rate, and the most important traffic-related ones include variables such as speed, number of stops, the speed noise, and the acceleration noise. Fuel consumption models for both urban and highway traffic are used to evaluate the effect of these factors. Previous literature shows the speed and the acceleration of the individual vehicles as well as the aero-dynamic effects are the most considered parameters in highway fuel consumption models. However, the existing models are based on the average or cruising speed and …

Characterization Of Impact Damage And Fiber Reinforced Polymer Repair Systems For Metallic Utility Poles, Cara Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous studies have demonstrated that the behavior of fiber reinforced polymers (FRPs) bonded to metallic utility poles are governed by the following failure modes; yielding of the metallic substrate, FRP tensile rupture, FRP compressive buckling, and debonding of FRP from the substrate. Therefore, an in situ method can be devised for the repair of utility poles, light poles, and mast arms that returns the poles to their original service strength. This thesis investigates the effect of damage due to vehicular impact on metallic poles, and the effectiveness of externally-bonded FRP repair systems in restoring their capacity. Damage is simulated experimentally …

Experimental And Numerical Investigations On Bond Durability Of Cfrp Strengthened Concrete Members Subjected To Environmental Exposure, Haider Al-Jelawy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have become an attractive alternative to conventional methods for external-strengthening of civil infrastructure, particularly as applied to flexural strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) members. However, durability of the bond between FRP composite and concrete has shown degradation under some aggressive environments. Although numerous studies have been conducted on concrete members strengthened with FRP composites, most of those studies have focused on the degradation of FRP material itself, relatively few on bond behavior under repeated mechanical and environmental loading. This thesis investigates bond durability under accelerated environmental conditioning of two FRP systems commonly employed in civil …

Monitoring For Underdetermined Underground Structures During Excavation Using Limited Sensor Data, Nader Mehdawi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A realistic field monitoring application to evaluate close proximity tunneling effects of a new tunnel on an existing tunnel is presented. A blind source separation (BSS)-based monitoring framework was developed using sensor data collected from the existing tunnel while the new tunnel was excavated. The developed monitoring framework is particularly useful to analyze underdetermined systems due to insufficient sensor data for explicit input force-output deformation relations. The analysis results show that the eigen-parameters obtained from the correlation matrix of raw sensor data can be used as excellent indicators to assess the tunnel structural behaviors during the excavation with powerful visualization …

A Real-Time Crane Service Scheduling Decision Support System (Css-Dss) For Construction Tower Cranes, Amir Tork

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The success of construction projects depends on proper use of construction equipment and machinery to a great extent. Thus, appropriate planning and control of the activities that rely on construction equipment could have significant effects on improving the efficiency of project operations. Cranes are the largest and most conspicuous construction equipment, widely used in typical construction sites. They play a major role in relocation of materials in horizontal and vertical directions on construction sites. Given the nature of activities relying on construction cranes in various stages of a project, cranes normally have control over the critical path of the project …

Real-Time Traffic Safety Evaluation Models And Their Application For Variable Speed Limits, Rongjie Yu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Traffic safety has become the first concern in the transportation area. Crashes have cause extensive human and economic losses. With the objective of reducing crash occurrence and alleviating crash injury severity, major efforts have been dedicated to reveal the hazardous factors that affect crash occurrence at both the aggregate (targeting crash frequency per segment, intersection, etc.,) and disaggregate levels (analyzing each crash event). The aggregate traffic safety studies, mainly developing safety performance functions (SPFs), are being conducted for the purpose of unveiling crash contributing factors for the interest locations. Results of the aggregate traffic safety studies can be used to …

Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment Framework For The U.S. Built Environment, Murat Kucukvar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The overall goals of this dissertation are to investigate the sustainability of the built environment, holistically, by assessing its Triple Bottom Line (TBL): environmental, economic, and social impacts, as well as propose cost-effective, socially acceptable, and environmentally benign policies using several decision support models. This research is anticipated to transform life cycle assessment (LCA) of the built environment by using a TBL framework, integrated with economic input-output analysis, simulation, and multicriteria optimization tools. The major objectives of the outlined research are to (1) build a system-based TBL sustainability assessment framework for the sustainable built environment, by (a) advancing a national …

Sustainability Assessment Of Wind Energy For Buildings, Mehdi Noori

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to increasing concerns for global climate change, onshore and offshore wind energy technologies have stimulated a tremendous interest worldwide, and are considered as a viable solution to mitigate the environmental impacts related to electricity generation. Although wind energy technologies have been considered as one of the cleanest energy sources, they have a wide range of direct and indirect environmental impacts when the whole supply chain is considered. This study aims to quantify the direct and indirect environmental impacts of onshore and offshore wind power technologies by tracing all of the economy-wide supply chain requirements. To accomplish this goal, we …

Chapter Green Nanotechnology: Development Of Nanomaterials For Environmental And Energy Applications, Rachel Fagan, Changseok Han, Joel Andersen, Suresh Pillai, Polycarpos Falaras, Anthony Byrne, Patrick S.M. Dunlop, Hyeok Choi, Wenjun Jiang, Kevin O’Shea, Dionysios D. Dionysiou

Books/Book Chapters

This book chapter discusses the syntheses of various nanomaterials, for green nanotechnology applications in detail. Special attention is given to the development of emerging areas, such as environmental as well as energy materials. Various approaches for preparing nanostructured photocatalysts, such as titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, iron oxide, and metal sulfides, different conventional methods and novel methods, including sol-gel methods, hydrothermal methods, microwave-assisted methods and sonochemical methods are introduced. The use of nanomaterials as photocatalysts, supporting materials for solar cells, and disinfectants is reported for environmental remediation and energy applications. Advanced applications of nanomaterials for water detoxification, air purification, and the …

Using Weigh-In-Motion Data To Determine Aggressiveness Of Traffic For Bridge Loading, Eugene J. Obrien, Bernard Enright

Articles

This paper presents results based on the analysis of an extensive database of weigh-in-motion (WIM) data collected at five European highway sites in recent years. The data are used as the basis for a Monte Carlo simulation of bridge loading by two lane traffic, both bidirectional and same-direction. Long runs of the simulation model are used to calculate characteristic bridge load effects (bending moments and shear forces), and these characteristic values are compared with design values for bridges of different length as specified by the Eurocode for bridge traffic loading. Various indicators are tested as possible bases for a “Bridge …

Finding The Area Of A Major League Baseball Field, Jacob Courchaine

Undergraduate Journal of Mathematical Modeling: One + Two

Using a Major League Baseball (MLB) baseball field template for guidelines, we estimate the cost of building the largest possible field accepted under MLB standards. This includes finding the areas of both the clay and grassy regions and determining how many bags of clay and fertilizer are required to cover the field.

Investigation Of Usage Of Velocity And Pressure Data Within A Water Distribution Lab Model For Calibrating Hydraulic Models, Robert Craig Ashby

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Water distribution modeling for hydraulics and water quality is an important tool for managing system performance of water utilities. An important component of a water distribution model is the calibration of a network model with field data in the real world system. The calibration effort requires a protocol or selection criteria for the location of field measurements that best support the calibration effort. A water distribution model was constructed at the University of Kentucky hydraulics lab for the purpose of investigating the performance of water distribution models. The lab model contains numerous hydraulic (pressure, flows) and water quality (concentrations) sensors …

Predicting The Dynamic Behavior Of Coal Mine Tailings Using State-Of-Practice Geotechnical Field Methods, Ali Salehian

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

This study is focused on developing a method to predict the dynamic behavior of mine tailings dams under earthquake loading. Tailings dams are a by-product of coal mining and processing activities. Mine tailings impoundments are prone to instability and failure under seismic loading as a result of the mechanical behavior of the tailings. Due to the existence of potential seismic sources in close proximity to the coal mining regions in the United States, it is necessary to assess the post-earthquake stability of these tailings dams.

To develop the aforementioned methodology, 34 cyclic triaxial tests along with vane shear tests were …

Rheological Study Of Asphalt Binders With A Wax-Based Warm Mix Additive And Its Relationships To Mix Compaction And Rutting, Rajan Saha

Doctoral Dissertations

Although the energy saving Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) technology that produces asphalt mixes at lower temperatures are around for about a decade, there still exist some concerns that are hindering its wide spread implementation. The overall objective of this study is to investigate if the viscosity reductions at higher temperatures have any impacts on asphalt mix compaction and rutting performances. This study reveals that there exists a critical temperature for each asphalt binder below which viscosity will increase with addition of Sasobit®. Therefore, compaction below the critical temperature can negatively impact density.

For PG 64-22, the critical temperature is 104 …

Reliability-Based Fatigue Assessment Of Mast-Arm Sign Support Structures, Joseph A. Diekfuss

Dissertations (1934 -)

Over the past few decades, there have been issues of poor fatigue performance (the main failure mechanism) of the welded, tube-to-transverse plate connections within sign support structures. Review of the literature has indicated that a considerable amount of research has been devoted to identifying the structural response characteristics of these signs. Others have tried to identify how these connections may be repaired, retrofitted or simply better designed to sustain longer fatigue lives. However, little attention has been given to using a systematic reliability-based approach to assess the risk of fatigue-induced fracture in these structures.

Using a reliability-based approach to solve …

A Comparative Evaluation Of Fdsa,Ga, And Sa Non-Linear Programming Algorithms And Development Of System-Optimal Methodology For Dynamic Pricing On I-95 Express, Don Graham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As urban population across the globe increases, the demand for adequate transportation grows. Several strategies have been suggested as a solution to the congestion which results from this high demand outpacing the existing supply of transportation facilities. High –Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes have become increasingly more popular as a feature on today’s highway system. The I-95 Express HOT lane in Miami Florida, which is currently being expanded from a single Phase (Phase I) into two Phases, is one such HOT facility. With the growing abundance of such facilities comes the need for indepth study of demand patterns and development of …

Swcc And Clay Mineralogy Based Models For Realistic Simulation Of Swell Behavior Of Expansive Soils, Aravind Pedarla

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Predicting the volume change behavior of expansive soils has been a major challenge to the engineers in the past few years, due to the intricate couple effects caused by different soil composition parameters toward swelling. Hence, the behavior of an expansive soil is better understood with its inherent composition parameters. For this research, eight natural expansive clays have been sampled from different active swell zones across The United States. Basic soil classification was performed on these soil to identify the high plasticity and low plasticity clays. The swell behavior of these clays are studied using different testing methods and initial …

Non-Linear Finite Element-Based Material Constitutive Law For Zero Slump Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete Pipe Structures, Alena Mikhaylova

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

This study presents a comprehensive investigation of performance and behavior of steel-fiber reinforced concrete pipes (SFRCP). The main goal of this study is to develop the material constitutive model for steel fiber reinforced concrete used in dry-cast application. To accomplish this goal a range of pipe sizes varying from 15 in. (400 mm) to 48 in. (1200 mm) in diameter and fiber content of 0.17%, 0.25%, 0.33%, 0.5%, 0.67% and 83% by volume were produced. The pipes were tested in three-edge bearing condition to obtain the load-deformation response and overall performance of the pipe. The pipes were also subjected to …

The Behaviour Of Connections In Segmental Precast Concrete Pile Systems, Evan Causer

Theses

Driven precast concrete segmental piles are a popular foundation solution. Segmental pile systems incorporate connections into the pile, therefore it is important to be confident that the strength of the pile joints is comparable to that of the pile cross-section.

The primary objective of the research was to examine the behaviour of connections in segmental precast concrete pile systems. This was achieved by undertaking a literature review, laboratory testing and Finite Element Analysis (FEA).

The uses of segmental concrete pile systems are described and a review of the available pile joints is given. A review of the relevant design codes …

Structural Behaviour Of Semi-Continuous Steel End Plate Connections, Niall Scollard

Theses

This report focuses on determining the joint stiffness and moment capacity values for semi-continuous (semi-rigid) connections in steel framed structures. When designing a beam to column connection, the assumption that the Joint is either fully continuous or fully pinned may not be entirely valid; it may be more realistic to classify the connection as intermediate between fully pinned and fully continuous.

The development of “the component method”, which is utilised in IS EN 1993-1-8 (EC3) to determine design values of the joint properties is described. A software solution was created using Microsoft Excel to carry out calculations in accordance with …

Investigation Into The Measure, Correlate And Predict Methodologies Used In Wind Farm Design Software, Brendan O'Sullivan

Theses

This paper is focused on the Measure Correlate and Predict (MCP) methodologies used to estimate long term wind resource at a prospective site. The first common step in all MCP methodologies is a successful wind measurement campaign at the prospective site. This campaign involves the erection of a wind measurement mast (ideally to the hub height of the proposed turbine) and careful selection of booms, mountings and anemometers. The wind measurement campaign is a vital part of the process as the correlation and prediction analysis is only as accurate as the measured wind data. Correlation is a measure of the …

Product Characterization And Headspace Analysis Of Solar Irradiated Aqueous C60 Clusters, Dan Su

Open Access Theses

Buckminsterfullerene (C60) is an important fullerene material that has drawn much attention and is currently being applied in many different fields. It was discovered in 1985. As its production has largely increased to meet these industrial needs, it is obvious that its environmental occurrence, especially in aqueous systems, will occur. To further provide information for environmental toxicity studies and for its risk assessment, this thesis focuses on the photo transformation processes of aqueous C60 clusters (Aqu/nC60), with a particular interest in measuring any mineralization that occurs under different irradiation conditions. Two sets of experiments were conducted to test for CO2 …

Pencel Pressuremeter Testing To Determining P-Y Curves For Laterally Loaded Deep Foundations, Messaoud Farid, Nouaouria Md Salah, Paul J. Cosentino

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

The pressuremeter used was essentially the PENCEL pressuremeter (PPMT), manufactured by ROCTEST, Inc. This paper offers a description of the equipment, testing procedure, theory to obtain parameters of the ground and to develop the p-y curves for laterally loaded piles. From PPMT data reduced to graphs of pressure versus volume, soil parameters including the lift-off pressure, the initial elastic and reload moduli, and the limit pressure were determined. Methods developed to determine p-y curves from pressuremeter and dilatometer (DMT) test. P-y curves are used in the analysis to represent lateral soil-pile interaction. The pressuremeter offers an almost ideal in-situ modelling …

The Guayule Plant: A Renewable, Domestic Source Of Binder Materials For Flexible Pavement Mixtures, David Newton Richardson, Steven Michael Lusher

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Due to the rising price of crude oil, flexible pavement costs have increased significantly. This price pressure has resulted in the increased use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and/or reclaimed asphalt roofing shingles (RAS) because of the binder (asphalt cement) they contain. This has increased demand for recycling (rejuvenating) agents which return the RAP/RAS binders to their original state by 1) restoring maltenes (petroleum oils and resins) that have been depleted due to age-hardening/oxidation, and 2) reducing their viscosity. The project concept was to design a flexible pavement mixture (FPM) produced with little-to-no virgin petroleumbased binder which implied the use …

Quality Modeling And Improvement Of University Facilities Services Using Six-Sigma - A Case Study On Wayne State University Fpm Services, Mohsen F. Mohamed Isa

Wayne State University Dissertations

Literature survey shows that there is no published information concerning the investigation and/or evaluation (by the customer) of the services provided by universities facilities management units, and no previous research was done to measure and evaluate such services to address, identify, and model the critical factors affecting quality.

This research work proposed a service quality model relating factors affecting quality of services provided by facility management units at higher educational institutions to the customer perception of service quality. It also examined the use of the Six-Sigma DMAIC methodology as an improvement strategy for services provided by facility management units at …

Microsimulation Evaluation Of Eurocode Load Model For American Long-Span Bridges, Bernard Enright, Colm Carey, Colin Caprani

Articles

The ability to accurately predict traffic loading is essential for cost-effective bridge maintenance and repair programs. The traffic load model currently used in the United States for the design of long-span bridges was developed over three decades ago. In the meantime vehicle characteristics and traffic patterns have changed. The Eurocode for traffic loading is more recent, but was calibrated only for bridges up to 200 m long. In this work, Weigh-In-Motion traffic records from 11 different sites across Alabama are used to establish congested traffic loading. Traffic microsimulation is used to generate the congestion, based on the real traffic data. …

Experimental Comparison Study Of The Response Of Polycarbonate And Laminated Glass Blast Resistant Glazing Systems To Blast Loading, Joshua Calnan

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

This thesis recounts the experimental study of the dynamic response of polycarbonate blast resistant glazing systems to explosive loading through the use of triaxial load cells, pressure sensors, and a laser displacement gauge. This instrumentation captured the response of the glazing systems to blast loading over three phases of testing. The first phase of testing characterizes the load distribution around the perimeter and the second phase examines the repeatability of the results. The final phase of testing pushes the samples to failure. The results are then compared to HazL, a commonly used blast resistant glazing system analysis software tool. The …

Review Of Load Rating And Posting Procedures And Requirements, Raymond Neal Chou

Open Access Theses

All states are required to load rate and post bridges in order to comply with federal standards. Load ratings are performed in order to determine the safe live load capacity of a bridge, considering the existing conditions of the bridge. Based on the load ratings, the bridge is evaluated for load posting or strengthening. The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) was notified that their practice for load rating and posting did not satisfy 23 CFR 650.313, which states that bridges shall be load rated and posted according to an American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) manual. The …