Engineering Commons^™

The Agricultural Health Study: Factors Affecting Completion And Return Of Self-Administered Questionnaires In A Large Prospective Cohort Study Of Pesticide Applicators, Robert Tarone, Michael Alavanja, Sheila Hoar Zahm, Jay Lubin, Dale Sandler, Suzanne Mcmaster, Nathaniel Rothman, Aaron Blair

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Response rates were examined in a prospective epidemiologic study of individuals, mostly farmers, from Iowa and North Carolina seeking a pesticide applicator license during the period from 1994 through 1996. In the first year of enrollment 16,535 farmers (representing 77% of eligible farmer applicators) enrolled in the study by completing a 17-page questionnaire administered at a pesticide training session; 47% of the enrolled farmers completed and returned a much longer take-home questionnaire. The characteristics of farmers who completed only the enrollment questionnaire were quite similar to those of farmers who also completed and returned the take-home questionnaire. The most notable …

Quantitation Reference Compounds And Voc Recoveries From Soils By Purge-And-Trap Gc/Ms, Brian Schumacher, Steven Ward

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Unquantified volatile organic compound (VOC) losses occur in every phase of VOC determination including sample collection, transport, storage, preparation, and analysis. Current quality assurance/quality control measures, such as surrogate spikes and internal standards, do not account for losses that occur during sample handling nor do they account for soil matrix effects. An alternate approach, the quantitation reference compound (QRC) approach, is presented that involves direction injection of the QRCs onto the soil matrix to account for any matrix effects and losses during subsequent processing steps prior to sample analysis. Final VOC quantitation is based on the QRC instead of the …

The Effect Of Varying Temperature, Flux And Pretreatment On The Microfiltration Of Lake Michigan Water, Karen Linda Kopp

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated microfiltration of Lake Michigan Water for the production of drinking water. A 60 gpm Memcor microfiltration pilot plant was operated for nine months at Manitowoc, Wisconsin to determine and model the performance characteristics of a microfiltration pilot plant for varying surface water conditions. Statistical regression and modeling was used to determine and develop quantitative relationships between time of operation and several operational variables for water quality and productivity. Modifications of Darcy's Law and flux decline data were used to develop a model relating temperature and flux to cleaning frequency. Statistical hypothesis testing and associated modeling were used …

Simulating Migration Of Contaminated Sediments In The Lower Columbia Slough System, Min Chen

Dissertations and Theses

Recent screening-level risk assessment of Slough sediments initiated by the City of Portland identified five contaminated areas in the Slough as posing the greatest potentially significant risks to human health. These five areas were recommended for accelerated remedial action.

But one question remains, does the sediment contamination at these hot spots change over time in response to the changing Slough hydrodynamics? Specifically, will the contamination move or spread even before remedial action is taken? Will they still be there by the time when potential remedial action is taken? Will any new hot spots be created in response to nonuniform transient …

A Design Of A Marine Radar Mast System For Minimum Vibration, Suey-Yueh Hu

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This experimental research focused on four areas: (a) the design of a new procedure for imitating the dynamic behavior of an electronic base plate on a radar mast system; (b) determination of a reasonable oscillation modal state; (c) avoidance of the destruction of the ability of the radar on the mast of a ship to receive and analyze incoming signals; and (d) design of a vibration absorber and vibration isolator based on an oscillation frequency. An adapted design for the vibration absorber and vibration isolator contributed to the prevention of excessive amplitude being produced by random forces acting upon a …

The Short-Term Effects Of Mortars On Salt Movement In Stone, Simon H. Perry, Aidan Duffy

Articles

Salt-induced decay processes are one of the most important reasons for the decay of many stone buildings and monuments. This paper investigates the role played by masonry mortars in the movement of salts within Baumberger sandstone and Portland limestone. The methodology used involved the monitoring of stone units containing mortar joints which were exposed to a city-centre environment. Rain-water run-off was collected from the stone/mortar units during the exposure period; the units were subsequently destructively analysed. The methods of run-off and destructive sample analysis used included ion chromatography and atomic absorption spectrophotometry; stone and mortar samples were also analysed petrographically. …

Kentucky Traffic Accident Facts 1997 Report, Kentucky Transportation Center, Kentucky State Police

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

KENTUCKY’S TRAFFIC ACCIDENT FACTS report for 1997 is based on accident reports submitted to the Accident Unit housed in the Kentucky State Police Information Services Branch, Records Section. As required by Kentucky Revised statutes 189.635, “every law enforcement agency whose officers investigate a vehicle accident of which a report must be made...shall file a report of the accident...within ten days after investigation of the accident upon forms supplied by the bureau.” The stated purpose of this requirement is to utilize date on traffic accidents” for such purposes as will improve the traffic safety program in the Commonwealth.” Data contained in …

1997 Directory Of Indiana State, County, City And Town Officials Responsible For Road And Street Work, Herpicc

Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) Directory

Contact information for agency officials and employees responsible for Indiana’s local road infrastructure.

Runoff, Erosion, And Soil Quality Characteristics Of A Former Conservation Reserve Program Site, John E. Gilley, John W. Doran, Douglas Karlen, T. C. Kaspar

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

No-till and moldboard plow tillage systems were established on a former Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) site in southwest Iowa. Runoff rates from simulated rainfall events were significantly greater on sites returned to crop production than from adjoining, undisturbed CRP areas. Substantial soil loss was measured from the moldboard plow treatments, but no significant differences in erosion rates were found between the undisturbed CRP and no-till management systems. No-till management maintained levels of soil quality similar to those of CRP by preserving soil structural integrity and reducing losses of soil organic matter (SOM) associated with tillage. Conservation tillage systems which maintain …

Reinforcement Of Web Openings In Cold-Formed Steel Members, Erika Kirsten Nelson

Masters Theses

"To expand on previous research concerning perforated cold-formed steel web elements, an experimental investigation was conducted to examine the influence of reinforcement on the behavior and strength of single web flexural members with web openings. In current design practice, reduction factors are applied to the strength equations to account for the debilitating effect of web openings. This reduction in capacity may lead to the selection of a greater member thickness or depth than would be required of a solid web member. A more economical approach may be to reinforce the web in the proximity of the opening to increase the …

Urban Infrastructure: Transportation, Public Utilities, Waste Management And Pollution Control, A. Bruce Bishop

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Paris, tube under the channel -- London, satellite spinning above cables on the ocean floor -- New York, concrete ribbons across undulating land -- San Francisco, silver wings soaring across the Pacific -- Tokyo and Seoul. Etched against the sky are the graceful towers of mighty bridges, the broad glass and steel fronts to massive buildings, the tall slender stacks of industries exhaling; and traced on the surface are the intricate patterns of people and their machines; and buried below are the tubes and tunnels, water pipes and power conduits and communication networks along with concrete caissons and piles that …

Introduction To Simulation/Optimization Modeling For Groundwater Containment Remediation And (B) Ramifications Of Applying S/O Modeling To Groundwater Containment Remediation, With Case Study Examples, Richard C. Peralta

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Normal use of a simulation model to develop a groundwater extraction/injection strategy employs the following process: (1) specify management goals, (2) assume a pumping strategy, (3) simulate system response to the pumping strategy, (4) evaluate acceptability of the system responses, (5) repeat steps (2-4) as required. This is a trial and error approach that is unlikely to actually yield the best pumping strategy for complicated problems

Optimal System Design Of In-Situ Bioremediation Using Parallel Recombinative Simulated Annealing, Horng-Jer Shieh, Richard C. Peralta

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

We present a simulation/optimization model combining optimization with BIOPLUME II simulation for optimizing in-situ bioremediation system design. In-situ bioremediation of contaminated groundwater has become widely accepted because of its cost-effective ability to achieve satisfactory cleanup. We use parallel recombinative simulated annealing to search for an optimal design and apply the BIOPLUME II model to simulate aquifer hydraulics and bioremediation. Parallel recombinative simulated annealing is a general-purpose optimization approach that has the good convergence of simulated annealing and the efficient parallelization of a genetic algorithm. This is the first time that parallel recombinative simulated annealing has been applied to groundwater management. …

Optimal In-Situ Bioremediation System Design Using Parallel Recombinative Simulated Annealing, Horng-Jer Shieh, Richard C. Peralta

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Presented is a simulation/optimization (S/0) model combining optimization with BIOPLUME II simulation for optimizing in-situ bioremediation system design. The (S/0) model uses parallel recombinative simulated annealing to search for an optimal design and applies the BIOPLUME II model to simulate aquifer hydraulics and bioremediation. Parallel recombinative simulated annealing is a general-purpose optimization approach that has the good convergence of simulated annealing and the efficient parallelization of a genetic algorithm. We propose a two-stage management approach. The first stage design goal is to minimize total system cost (pumping/treatment, well installation and facility capital costs). The second stage design goal is to …

Development Of A Congestion Management System For Indiana, Robert K. Whitford, Jennifer L. Opsuth

JTRP Technical Reports

This study details a procedure used in determinng links with deficiencies. A procedure was developed by means of which congestion on raodways links can be identified as being congested will be subjected to a more detailed study to determine extent, duration, and severity of congestion. The procedure was developed by the use of the Highway C apacity Manual (HCM) and the Indiana Department of Transportation's (INDOT) Road Inventory Data Base.

Building Embankments Of Fly/Bottom Ash Mixtures, Ahmed M.K. Karim, C. W. Lovell, Rodrigo Salgado

JTRP Technical Reports

This research investigates the engineering properties of mixtures of bottom ash and Class F fly ash relevant to their utilization in highway embankment construction. The research included ash samples from two major power plants in Indiana that disposed of their ash differently. The first power plant disposes of the bottom ash and fly ash separately and hence explicit mixtures were synthetically formed and tested. The second power plant disposes of the bottom ash and fly ash together in a common location and hence they become homogeneous samples for the research. Characterization of the ash included grain size analysis, specific gravity, …

Monotonic Tests Of Cold-Formed Steel Shear Walls With Openings, American Iron And Steel Institute

American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) Specifications, Standards, Manuals and Research Reports (1946 - present)

No abstract provided.

Testing Of Multi-Span Bridges With Full Span Precast Prestressed Concrete Panels (Phase 1), Robert J. Peterman, J. A. Ramirez

JTRP Technical Reports

The purpose of this study was to assess the behavior and durability of multi-span bridges constructed with full-span prestressed concrete form panels. The use of full-span prestressed concrete form panels for bridges with spans of 40 ft. or less is an economical method of construction due to the reduction of on-site formwork and labor required by alternate cast-in-place systems. In this research, a pair of two-span bridges utilizing full-span prestressed concrete form panels were fabricated and tested in the Karl H. Kettelhut Structural Engineering Laboratory at Purdue University. Time-dependent effects were monitored during the cast-in-place (CIP) concrete cure period of …

Determining The Viability Of The "Rated Axle Load Enhancement System" For Concrete Pavement, Chih-Jen Lee, Charles D. Sutton, Thomas D. White

JTRP Technical Reports

Concrete pavements in large part are designed as flat slabs although in the past they have included thickened edges. Thickened edge slabs are used today where positive load transfer for some reason cannot be provided. The Rated Axle Load Enhancement (RALE) system concept involves the use of longitudinal stems to stiffen the concrete slab. A close analogy is that of a wide double or quadruple "T" beam. The stems may be rectangular or trapezoidal.

In this study, RALE systems with two and four rectangular stems as well as plain concrete slabs were analyzed using the finite element method (FEM). The …

Automating Field Data Collection In Maintenance Operations, Bob G. Mccullouch

JTRP Technical Reports

Field data collection and management in DOT organizations requires a considerable amount of resources in the form of personnel and management systems. Recent studies performed by the researcher revealed that an average of 30-50% of some field supervisory personnel's time is spent on processing field data paperwork. This is a considerable amount of time spent on an undesirable task and is taking these employees away from more important job duties. This project automated two maintenance field data collection functions. One was a Crew Day Card, which is a card used by a maintenance crew to document the activity performed. Information …

Study Of Side Ditch Liners For Highway Application, Anthony S. Calderon, Philippe L. Bourdeau

JTRP Technical Reports

Over the past few years, the INDOT new materials department has received numerous erosion control products (mostly geosynthetics) to evaluate as alternatives to riprap and concrete in ditch liners. Potential benefits include lower construction costs and better aesthetics over current products. Unfortunately, no specification, design methodology, or classification system currently exists for these erosion control blankets.

In this project's phase I, existing information and knowledge on erosion control materials used to line highway side drainage ditches were investigated. From the available technical1iterature (journal and conference publications, other DOTs specifications, manufacturer documentation, independent test laboratory test data), design methodologies, classification system, …

Indot Multimedia Applications Prototype Development, Bob G. Mccullouch

JTRP Technical Reports

Multimedia technologies open a new data set for DOT organizations. By adding pictures, sounds, animation, and video, new computer applications can be developed that will bring many benefits. This project investigated the utilization of multimedia into DOT operations. Applications were developed in three different topical areas: Employee Information or Orientation, a Bridge Plan Reading course, and a Construction Equipment utilization prototype. The first two are fully developed implementable tools that will be utilized by INDOT. These developments provide insight into how multimedia can be a useful tool for training and providing performance support to DOT employees. Other tools can be …

An Evaluation Of The Cost Effectiveness Of The Hoosier Helper Program And Framework For The Design Of Its Optimal System Configuration, Phase 1, Steven P. Latoski, Raktim Pal, Kumares C. Sinha

JTRP Technical Reports

This research provides a benefit-cost analysis for each of two distinct Hoosier Helper operating scenarios: daytime patrol and 24-hour patrol. The computation of agency cost involves an aggregation of equivalent annual investment cost, employee salaries and fringe benefit, overhead cost, and maintenance cost for Hoosier Helper. The following components comprise the estimation of Hoosier Helper benefits: non-recurrent congestion delay savings, secondary crash reduction, and vehicle operating cost savings. The results of an analysis of over two thousand evaluations from motorists assisted by Hoosier Helper are also presented.

Moment-Rotation Relationship For Unified Auto-Stress Design Of Continuous-Span Bridge Beam And Girders, Donald W. White, J. A. Ramirez, Karl E. Barth

JTRP Technical Reports

This report summarizes the development and trial application of simplified moment-rotation relationships for inelastic design of continuous-span beam and girder bridges. The research described within involves the execution of a reasonably comprehensive set of finite element parametric studies to fill in knowledge gaps in the available experimental data pertaining to the hogging moment-plastic rotation behavior of steel and composite steel-concrete bridge girders. Based on these studies, relationships have been developed for the moment-plastic rotation behavior at the pier sections in these types of bridges. The moment-rotation model is validated against available experimental data, several focused new experimental tests, and current …

Minimum Crushed Aggregate Requirements, Haiming Huang, Thomas D. White

JTRP Technical Reports

An accelerated pavement testing facility has been developed by Purdue University for the Indiana Department of Transportation. The test facility includes a test pit in which prototype scale pavement sections can be installed. The Accelerated Pavement Tester loading system has the capability of applying moving wheel loads to the test sections. An initial study utilizing the accelerated pavement test facility has been conducted at Purdue University to determine the minimum crushed aggregate requirements in asphalt mixtures in Indiana. This study addresses effects of various constituents of the asphalt mixture on pavement rutting. The factors included in this study are aggregate …

Freeway Incident Likelihood Prediction And Response Decision-Making, Samer Madanat, Hongyu Pan, Pen-Chi Liu, Hualiang Teng

JTRP Technical Reports

This research project consisted of two parts. The first part developed a set of real-time incident likelihood prediction models. The second part developed a freeway incident response decision-making methodology based on sequential hypothesis testing methods. The freeway incident likelihoods predicted by the real-time prediction models act as prior probabilities for the freeway incident response decision-making system. The products of this research project will be incorporated in the Advanced Traffic Management System that is being implemented on the Borman Expressway, a 16-mile segment of I-80 in northwest Indiana. The decision-making system can be used by traffic management personnel to assist in …

Prediction Models For Incident Clearance Time For Borman Expressway (Vol. 1; Vol. 2: 96/11), Samer Madanat, Ahmed Feroze

JTRP Technical Reports

This research consisted of two parts; this report is Volume 1 of 2 Volumes; Volume 2 is Report No. FHWA/IN/JHRP-9611. The first part developed a set of incident clearance time prediction models for the Borman Expressway. The second part consisted of modeling driver’s route choice behavior under the influence of advanced traveler information systems. Volume 1 of this report describes the incident clearance time prediction models for the Borman Expressway. The prediction of incident clearance time from these models can facilitate in efficient incident management and support traveler information systems. The products of this research project will be incorporated in …

Volumetric Exchanges Between A Managed Marsh And A Coastal Estuary, Ashok Pandit, John H. White, Antonis A. Kakoullis, Satish B. Akula, James R. David

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

The dominant term in the estimation of net flux calculation, between a marsh and a source of tidal water is often the exchange of water. The purpose of this study was to provide a description of the methodology used to estimate the volumetric exchange of surface waters between a managed marsh and the Indian River Lagoon during the managed and unmanaged periods. The paper also documents the simplifying assumptions that had to be made to estimate the exchanges both during the managed and unmanaged period. These assumptions had to be made either because the data were limited mainly due to …

Bs News

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Carbon Frp Strengthening Of Doubly Curved Precast Pc Shell, M. Barboni, A. Benedetti, Antonio Nanni

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper a recent rehabilitation project completed in Italy using carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) unidirectional sheets is examined. This technology was selected for the strengthening of a doubly curved, precast, prestressed concrete (PC) shell. The shell was part of the roof of an industrial building and had experienced severe localized damage due to accidental heat radiating from a flue. The selection of the CFRP system involved the screening of different repair procedures with relation to the constraints imposed by the owner: limited disturbance to the industrial process, safety of the occupants, low cost, and durability. In addition, the …