Engineering Commons^™

Experimental Study On The Behaviour Of A Magnetorheological (Mr) Damper And Evaluation Of Numerical Models, Shelair Sinjari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

MR dampers are smart dampers that improve structural performance through vibration control. Vibration of tall or flexible structures and structural elements induced by dynamic loads such as wind and earthquakes can cause severe damage to the structure and discomfort for individuals. Therefore, dampers are commonly installed to increase the energy dissipation capacity and mitigate large amplitude vibrations. MR dampers are gaining recognition because of the unique rheological properties offered by the magnetically sensitive MR fluid. Changes to the current level, along with the frequency and amplitude of vibration, affect the force-displacement and force-velocity hysteresis relationship and thus the amount of …

Enzymatic Removal Of Sulfonated Azo Dyes From Synthetic Textile Effluents Using Soybean Peroxidase, Temidayo Oyelere

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The textile industry and other colour-oriented industries utilize azo dyes in extensive amounts. Dye effluents are recalcitrant to natural biodegradation, hence, causing toxic effects on the environment. Physiochemical treatment generates sludge which requires secondary disposal; advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are cost and energy intensive; biological methods like anaerobic treatment via bacteria generate aromatic amines which are mutagenic and carcinogenic. A promising alternative that has shown great success in the treatment of wastewater is the enzymatic method. This thesis reports the enzymatic degradation of Reactive Black 5 (RB5), Acid Orange 7 (AO7), and Acid Orange 20 (AO20) from synthetic textile effluents …

Developing Takeover Request Warning System To Improve Takeover Time And Post-Takeover Performance In Level 3 Automated Drivin, Niloy Talukder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The automotive industry is shifting towards partial (level 3) or fully automated vehicles. An important research question in level 3 automated driving is how quickly drivers can take over the vehicle control in response to a critical event. In this regard, this study develops an integrated takeover request (TOR) system which provides visual and auditorial TOR warning in both vehicle interface and personal portable device (e.g., tablet). The study also evaluated the effectiveness of the integrated TOR system in reducing the takeover time and improving post-takeover performance. For these purposes, 44 drivers participated in the driving simulator experiment where they …

The Role Of Pier Shape And Aspect Ratio On Local Scour With And Without Sacrificial Piles, Mohamed Kharbeche

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The complexity of the scour process around bridge piers leads to uneconomical pier design and unnecessary costs. This is due to the current scour estimation methods, which over-predict scour depth. Several aspects of scour have not been fully considered in pier design and require further investigation, such as the pier shape and aspect ratio. Further, scour countermeasures are used to protect the pier and reduce the scour depth. The first objective of the present investigation is to study the combined effects of pier nose shape and aspect ratio on scour geometry. The second objective is to better understand the effect …

A New Car-Following Model With Incorporation Of Markkula’S Framework Of Sensorimotor Control In Sustained Motion Tasks, Umair Durrani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The main aim of this research is to develop a new car-following model that realistically predicts the trajectories of speed, acceleration, jerk and spacing in congested and uncongested freeway conditions. The research has three objectives. First, the start time of driver reaction was investigated in various car-following conditions. Specifically, the assumption of a constant reaction time of the existing car-following models was investigated using the observed driver behaviour data collected from a driving simulator. Moreover, the perception limits and the process that drivers use to start reaction were also studied. Second, a new car-following model was developed to reproduce the …

Application Of Artificial Neural Networks To Predict Local Bridge Pier Scour, Mia Marrocco

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Accurate equilibrium scour depth and width estimations are essential to both safe and economic designs of bridge foundations. Review of current scour estimation methods demonstrate that the empirical equations produce scour values that are overestimated, resulting in uneconomical designs. In the current investigation, artificial neural networks (ANNs) were optimized and applied to scour data under laboratory conditions, field conditions, and a combination of the two conditions. Additionally, physics-based parameters – in place of empirical parameters (e.g., shape factors) – and parameters incorporating blockage effects were introduced as input parameters to the ANNs in an attempt to improve scour predictions. Finally, …

Analysis Of Aggressive Driving Using A Driving Simulator, Ahmad Hassan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As aggressive driving mainly caused speed-related crashes, aggressive driving must be prevented to improve road safety by identifying aggressive drivers and understand their characteristics and external factors associated with their behaviours. Thus, it is important to investigate relationships among aggressive driving, driver characteristics, and driving performance measures. The factors affecting aggressive driving are driving experience, self-estimation of driving skill, and willingness of taking risk while driving, and interactions with different drivers, not only driver’s own intention. To establish a framework for the analysis of aggressive driving, previous literature indicated driving performance measures and/or self-reported measures to be effective measures of …

Sustainability And Performance Improvement Of Engineered Cementitious Composites, Adeyemi Adesina

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Engineered cementitious composites (ECCs) are special types of fibre-reinforced cementitious composites (FRCC) with higher strain capacity which can be achieved with low fibre volume as low as 2% and total elimination of coarse aggregates. Due to the outstanding performance of ECCs, they are suitable for various construction and repair applications. However, in order for ECCs to achieve their properties; a high amount of binder which is primarily composed of Portland cement (PC) is used alongside a special type of ultrafine silica sand (USS) which is different from the conventional natural fine aggregates. The production of PC is known to be …

Modeling Freight Network Robustness And Criticality In Ontario, Canada, Georgiana Vani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores criticalities that arise in a freight transportation network for the multi-regional economically active province of Ontario, Canada. A significant economic contributor and generator of freight trips, Ontario relies on its transportation system for the movement of goods. A combination of network performance and economically driven measures are used to evaluate the impacts of link disruptions, identify criticalities in the network, and produce a more holistic view of freight transportation activities. The Network Robustness Index (NRI) is applied to capture the impacts of travel conditions on the network due to link disruptions. A methodology is introduced for estimating …

Modelling Cross-Border Rail Intermodality In The Windsor-Essex Context, Christopher Aspila

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Shipment by truck dominates the cross-border flow of commodities in both directions between Canada and the United States (Anderson and Coates, 2010; Anderson, 2012; Anderson and Brown, 2012; and Aspila and Maoh, 2014). An individual truck typically pulling one or two trailers is an inefficient way to move goods over long distances (Eom et al., 2012) when freight trains with three or more 4400 horsepower diesel-electric locomotives pull over two-hundred intermodal containers loaded on rail cars throughout North America every day.

Windsor, Ontario is an example of a border community in Canada and hosts the busiest border crossing between Canada …

Wake Characteristics Of Wall-Mounted Finite Solid And Foam-Covered Cylinders, Subhadip Das

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The wake characteristics of a wall-mounted finite foam-covered cylinder are explored by comparing the flow properties with the wake of a solid cylinder. The velocity data are acquired experimentally using planar particle image velocimetry (PIV) and numerically by large eddy simulation at Reynolds number of 35100 based on the flow depth and 13100 based on the cylinder diameter. The wake characteristics may vary significantly if the approach flow properties change and also depend on the relative height of the boundary layer thickness with respect to the cylinder height. Therefore, it is a necessity to achieve a fully developed approach flow …

Methods Of Determining And Predicating Community Annoyance Due To Aircraft Noise, Kevin Zielinski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the importance of the aviation industry continues to grow, airports continue to expand, andincrease operations; noise generated from aircraft is becoming a growing concern to people livingwithin the communities surrounding the airports. Community members have shown concern throughcomplaints and annoyance due to the disturbances that aircraft noise cause in their everyday life. Thepurpose of this study is to determine which factors most affect community annoyance towards aircraftnoise. There are two main factors to be considered when analyzing annoyance due to aircraft noise.The first is the acoustic factors caused by the aircrafts themselves, such as the noise the aircraft emitsor …

Structural Performance Of Shelf Angle Connection With Innovative Detailing, Shivam Sharma

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent legislations are demanding more efficient thermal insulation of the building envelopes. However, most of the energy used for heating is lost through openings and small air gaps resulting from various penetrations of highly conductive elements through the building envelope. These thermal bridges can also give rise to mould growth and condensation problems. One such example is the anchoring of shelf angles to the load bearing structures, as they have to cut through the exterior insulation used to enhance the thermal performance of a building envelope.

Steel through-bolts have been conventionally used by the construction industry to anchor shelf angles …

Finite Element Analysis Of Complex Vectorbloc Beam-Column Connections, Labiba Kalem

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Steel modular construction provides an efficient alternative to traditional construction practices. A key component to modular construction is the connection between the individual modules, which hold the building together against applied loads such as gravity, snow, and wind. The VectorBloc connector is an innovative cast steel connector that is used in the connections between steel modules made from hollow structural steel (HSS) members. The current VectorBloc connector, called VB4, is limited in its uplift capacity and thus faces challenges when applied to structures facing high uplift forces. Thus, a new design of the VectorBloc connector, called VB6, with a focus …

Wind Tunnel Study Of Wind-Induced Loads On Building Balconies, Tingzhou Tong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The wind-induced pressure coefficients for the balcony guardrail design are based on the provision of wall cladding and components provided in building codes, such as the National Building Code of Canada 2015. However, the balcony guard’s failure frequently occurred, which caused a number of accidents and casualties in the past years. This work studies the wind-induced pressure coefficients on the two typical balconies guard models, an isolated balcony and a continuous balcony, based on various wind direction, wind speeds, and balcony configurations through wind tunnel test. The test results in the wind tunnel are compared with the provisions of the …