Engineering Commons^™

Evaluation Of Wind Load Integration In Disproportionate Collapse Analysis Of Steel Moment Frames For Column Loss, Simos Gerasimidis, C. Baniotopoulos

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publication Series

The design of steel structures, in most cases, depends majorly on the level of wind loads which are prescribed by codes and regulations and are used in the structural analysis due to the fact that steel structures being light and ductile systems are strongly affected from a slight difference in the values of wind loading. During the last decades, disproportionate collapse analysis has become of major interest mainly due to the increasing number of failures occurring in that pattern. Commonly accepted guidelines and methods of analysis have been produced, the most dominating of which being the Department of Defense Facilities …

Wachusett Reservoir Contaminant Spill Modeling Using Ce-Qual W2, Cory S. Devonis

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

This research studies contaminant spills in the Wachusett Reservoir by two dimensional modeling utilizing CE-QUAL W2. The Wachusett Reservoir, located in central Massachusetts, has a capacity of 65 billion gallons and is the primary water source for the metropolitan Boston area. There are numerous inflows and outflows to and from the Wachusett Reservoir, with the Quabbin Aqueduct supplying approximately half of the total water entering the Wachusett. The Quabbin Aqueduct connects the Quabbin Reservoir (412 billion gallons) to the Wachusett Reservoir and supplies water to maintain desired water surface elevations in the Wachusett during time of high demand and low …

Perchlorate Reduction By Sulfur Oxidizing Bacteria, Amber R. Boles

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

Perchlorate (ClO4-) contaminated water is becoming a wide-spread problem as more sites are being identified worldwide. Biological perchlorate reduction is a promising alternative to conventional physical/chemical treatment processes and has the advantage of reducing perchlorate to the benign products, chloride and oxygen. A number of bacteria are capable of reducing perchlorate using a variety of electron donors including organic carbon compounds, hydrogen, iron, and reduced sulfur compounds. Previous studies in our laboratory successfully used a novel, sulfur oxidizing bacterial consortium (SUPeRB) to reduce perchlorate in both batch culture and in packed bed reactors (PBR). There were two main objectives of …

Sub-Daily Multi-Objective Models For Optimizing Hydropower In The Deerfield River, Kelcy Adamec

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

This document is part of the Connecticut River Watershed Project, a federally authorized collaborative project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (US ACE), the Nature Conservancy (TNC), the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The project began in September 2008 with Congressional funding for this project with TNC and the USACE as equal funding partners.

The Connecticut River Watershed Project will identify management modifications for more than seventy influential dams in the Connecticut River Basin to increase environmental benefits while maintaining beneficial human uses such as water supply, flood control, and hydropower generation. Key …

Investigating Estrogenic Endocrine Disrupting Compounds And Their Disinfection Byproducts Within Drinking Water Treatment, Kirsten E. Studer

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

Emerging public health concerns relating to the epigenetic effects of EDCs, along with the

reconceptualization of dose response curves, provides a compelling rationale for addressing

estrogenically active contaminants in drinking water. These environmental health concerns are

now known to have long lasting impacts, especially on fetal development. For this drinking

water research, the estrogenic EDC byproducts were identified and the treatment processes were

compared using the dose applied, the number of byproducts formed and the relative

quantification of the treatment byproducts. The analytical optimized method presented and

implemented in this research successfully determined the percent degradation of the parent

compound …

Investigating Estrogenic Endocrine Disrupting Compounds And Their Disinfection Byproducts Within Drinking Water Treatment, Kirsten E. Studer

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

Emerging public health concerns relating to the epigenetic effects of EDCs, along with the reconceptualization of dose response curves, provides a compelling rationale for addressing estrogenically active contaminants in drinking water. These environmental health concerns are now known to have long lasting impacts, especially on fetal development. For this drinking water research, the estrogenic EDC byproducts were identified and the treatment processes were compared using the dose applied, the number of byproducts formed and the relative quantification of the treatment byproducts. The analytical optimized method presented and implemented in this research successfully determined the percent degradation of the parent compound …

Biodegradation Of Ethylene Dibromide (Edb) Under In Situ And Biostimulated Conditions At Mmr, Robert Mckeever

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

An extensive microcosm study was conducted to investigate the biodegradation of 1,2-dibromoethane (EDB) under in situ and biostimulated conditions within a plume at the Massachusetts Military Reservation in Cape Cod, MA. This particular EDB plume is unique because it has persisted for over 38 years, is more than 61 m below the ground surface, and has both aerobic and anaerobic zones with EDB levels above the maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 0.05 μg/L (ppb). Microcosms were constructed with in situ materials and conducted under environmentally relevant conditions (field EDB concentrations; incubated at 12°C). The results showed that natural attenuation occurred …

2-D Spill Modeling In The Wachusett Reservoir With Cequal-W2 For Years 2003-2006, Bryan R. Sojkowski

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

This study examines the effects of various environmental conditions on the behavior of a contaminant spill as it travels across the Wachusett Reservoir. The reservoir, located in central Massachusetts, is a 65 billion gallon water body that supplies drinking water to the Boston Metropolitan area and consists of numerous inflows and outflows. The Quabbin Reservoir, a 412 billion gallon system, accounts for close to half of the inflow. The Wachusett Reservoir receives Quabbin water through the Quabbin aqueduct located on its eastern side. CEQUAL W2, a two-dimensional, laterally averaged, hydrodynamic and water quality model was utilized to perform numerous simulations. …

Utilizing A Decision Support System To Optimize Reservoir Operations To Restore The Natural Flow Distribution In The Connecticut River Watershed, Brian Pitta

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

Reservoir development on the Connecticut River Basin has altered the natural hydrograph and detrimentally affected the region's aquatic ecosystems that thrive on natural variability. This thesis examines ways in which flows in the river and its triburaries can be returned to a more natural regime withouy negatively impacting other users. The analysis offers alternative operations to meet the various objectives as well as evaluates the impacts of climate change on the basin. This paper focuses on the upper third of the basin as a proof of concept to demonstrate the decision support system and to generate initial results for the …

Conventional Water Treatment Processes For Removing Pharmaceutical And Endocrine Disrupting Compounds, Jing Lin

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are natural or synthetic compounds that act like hormones in the endocrine system and disrupt the physiologic function of endogenous hormones. Although no standards concerning EDCs in drinking water have been established, there are rising concerns about the effects of EDCs in drinking water on human health.

The main objective of this study is to conduct bench scale experiments to investigate the effectiveness of conventional drinking water treatment processes at removing selected endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) from municipal water supplies. It was also a goal of this work to provide …

Annual, Monthly, And Storm Scale Analysis Of Chloride Fluxes From Highway Deicing Agents To The Cambridge Reservoir, Marie Rivers

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

This research project analyzed streamflow, specific conductivity, and precipitation data for two tributary locations of the Cambridge Reservoir. MassDOT deicing agent application data was also analyzed for state maintained roads in the drainage areas of the two tributaries. The purpose of this project was to determine the load of chloride to the reservoir from the state maintained roads. All data was considered on an annual, monthly, and individual storm scale. A hydraulic model for runoff was developed and the mass load of chloride was determined. The study area consisted of USGS gage 01104415 (Lincoln Street) which is a tributary to …

Steel Moment Frames Column Loss Analysis: The Influence Of Time Step Size, Simos Gerasimidis, C. Baniotopoulos

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publication Series

This paper applies two well-known structural dynamics computational algorithms to the problem ofdisproportionate collapse of steel moment frames applying the alternate load path method. Any problem of structural dynamics strongly depends on the accuracy and the reliability of the analysis method since the parameters involved in the selection of the appropriate algorithm are affected by the nature of the problem. Disproportionate collapse is herein simulated via a time history analysis used to ‘‘turn off’’ the effectiveness of an element to the structure. For this kind of problem the time step size of the computational algorithm is of major importance for …

Disproportionate Collapse Analysis Of Cable-Stayed Steel Roofs For Cable Loss, Simos Gerasimidis, C. Baniotopoulos

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publication Series

Disproportionate collapse has been identified lately as a real cause of failure for structural engineering projects. Rare and unexpected, the phenomenon of disproportionate collapse usually results to many fatalities and thus, its analysis and mitigation is deemed necessary. This work describes the analysis of a cable-stayed steel roof under the scenario of a cable loss. The eventof a cable loss is assumed to be brittle, while relevant recent recommendations suggest the application of a scaled equivalent static force at the points of the anchorage of the cable but in the opposite direction of the original cable force. In this paper, …

Advanced Oxidation Of Drinking Water Using Ultraviolet Light And Alternative Solid Forms Of Hydrogen Peroxide, Zachary F. Monge

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering Masters Projects

With the increasing focus on removing emerging, unregulated drinking water contaminants, the use of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) has become more prevalent. A commonly used AOP is the ultraviolet light/hydrogen peroxide (UV/H2O2) AOP. This process utilizes the formation of hydroxyl radicals to oxidize contaminants to less harmful forms. In this analysis, two alternative solid forms of H2O2, sodium perborate (SPB) and sodium percarbonate (SPC) were used as sources of H2O2 in the UV/H2O2 AOP. The potential advantage of SPB and SPC is that they are solids in nature, and as a result, the shipping costs and shipping energy requirements can …

Measuring Lengths And Areas With Adi. Student Guide, Morton Sternheim

STEM Digital

No abstract provided.

Measuring The Acceleration Of Falling Objects, John Pickle

STEM Digital

Earth's gravity pulls all objects toward its center, and near the Earth's surface. Objects in free fall accelerate at 9.8 m/s² vertically downward, provided air resistance is negligible. This value of acceleration is often referred to as "g". There are many ways to measure this rate of acceleration, and most require a timing device. Typically, stopwatches are the least expensive technology, so these are commonly available in high school science classrooms. With the recent addition of movie cameras on cell phones and digital cameras, another timing tool is available at moderate cost (free if the school policy …

Analyzing Digital Images (Adi) Resources, Rob Snyder

STEM Digital

Basic introduction to installing and using ADI

Water Treatment Experiments, David Reckhow

STEM Digital

•The water industry spends a lot of money and effort on removal of natural organic matter (NOM) from drinking waters •Problems with NOM (the more NOM the bigger problem) –NOM interferes with the ability of water treatment systems to remove substances that cause disease •Pathogenic organisms •Toxic chemicals –NOM reacts with chlorine‐based disinfectants forming carcinogenic organic byproducts

Experimental Design For Ozone Projects, Deborah Carlisle, Stephen Schneider

STEM Digital

No abstract provided.

Bioretention: Evaluating Their Effectiveness For Improving Water Quality In New England Urban Environments, Mary Dehais

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution is one of the leading causes of water quality problems in the United States. Bioretention has become one of the more frequently used stormwater management practices for addressing NPS pollution in urbanized watersheds in New England. Yet despite increased acceptance, bioretention is not widely practiced. This study explores and evaluates the efficacy of bioretention for protecting urban water quality.

This research found that numerous monitoring methods are used by researchers and industry experts to assess the effectiveness of stormwater best management practices (BMPs) and low impact development (LID) practices that include bioretention. The two most common …

An Application Of Spatially Based Crash Analyses And Road Safety Investigations To Increase Older Driver Safety, Deanna A. Peabody

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Arguably the greatest issue facing the transportation profession is the ability to provide social equity with regards to both safety and mobility given the aging population. Given the overall dominance of the automobile within the transportation system, the ability to provide feasible alternatives is daunting. This fact, when coupled with the well-documented challenges of older drivers, underscores the need for improved safety features and system-wide safety approaches with a focus on the older driver. This paper describes an application of spatial crash analysis and road safety investigations that were employed in Massachusetts with a direct focus on the older driver. …

Automated Detection And Counting Of Pedestrians On An Urban Roadside, Gayatri D. Prabhu

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

This thesis implements an automated system that counts pedestrians with 85% accuracy. Two approaches have been considered and evaluated in terms of count accuracy, cost and ease of deployment. The first approach employs the Autoscope Solo Terra, a traffic camera which is widely used to monitor vehicular traffic. The Solo Terra supports an image processing-based detector that counts the number of objects crossing user-defined areas in the captured image. The count is updated based on the amount of movement across the selected regions. Therefore, a second approach has been considered that uses a histogram of oriented gradients (HoG), an advanced …

Development Of Anchorage System For Frp Strengthening Applications Using Integrated Frp Composite Anchors, Geoffrey N. Mcguirk

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Over the past three decades the use of externally bonded fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) materials for structural strengthening applications has become an accepted and widely used method. A primary concern of FRP structural strengthening systems is that the FRP often debonds from the concrete well before the load capacity of the FRP material is reached. In addition, debonding failures are often brittle and occur with little warning. Past research concluded that fastening FRP sheets with FRP anchors is an effective method for delaying or preventing debonding failures. However, there is a clear lack of research pertaining to fastening FRP sheets …

Evaluating Alternative Toll-Based Financing Approaches: A Case Study Of The Boston Metropolitan Area, Rosaria M. Berliner

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The current condition of the nation’s transportation system is of great concern to State Departments of Transportation. Currently, funds in many state transportation budgets are depleting. Nowadays, State DOT officials together with researchers are exploring various transportation financing approaches and they are considering the utility, merits, challenges, and impacts of these approaches.

A major financing approach being considered relies on the collection of tolls on existing toll roads and on roads on which tolls are not presently collected. Recent technology advancements in Open Road Tolling and All-Electronic Tolling have provided State DOTs with the opportunity to consider expanding the use …

Safety And Operational Assessment Of Gap Acceptance Through Large-Scale Field Evaluation, Steven Maxwell Tupper

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Given that “driver error” is cited as a contributing factor in 93 percent of all crashes, understanding driver behavior is an essential element in mitigating the crash problem. Among the more dangerous roadway elements are unsignalized intersections where drivers’ gap acceptance behavior is strongly correlated to the operational and safety performance of the intersection. While a basic understanding of drivers’ gap acceptance behavior exists, several unanswered questions remain.

Previous work has attempted to address some of these questions, however to date the research has been somewhat limited in scope and scale due to the challenges of collecting high fidelity gap …