Engineering Commons^™

Evaluation Of Increased Targeted Enforcement And Community-Based Outreach And Education Programs To Increase Nighttime Seatbelt Use In East Tennessee, Kwaku Frimpong Boakye

Doctoral Dissertations

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among people aged 1-54 in the United Sates. In 2015, the number of motor-vehicle deaths on U.S. roadways totaled 35,092, a 7% increase from 2014 (32,744). Though lower gas prices and increased vehicle mileage combined with risky driving behaviors (e.g. speeding, driving while texting) account for the increased fatality rate, seatbelt non-use has been a significant contributory factor. It is estimated that nearly half (48%) of passenger vehicle occupants involved in fatal crashes each year are unrestrained.

In a recent 2014 report …

Fracture Behavior Of Single Mason Sand Particles Under Uniaxial Compression, Thuy Thanh Trieu

Masters Theses

Tensile strength of granular materials under one-dimensional (1D) compression is often examined because granular materials fracture in many applications where the soil mass experience high compression stresses. Through methods such as 1D compression, three-dimensional (3-D) imaging, and discrete element modeling, researchers had determined that the Weibull distribution is a good model to represent the tensile strengths of granular material and the fracturing strength of granular materials is dependent on mineralogy, morphology, grain-size, loading rate, gradation, coordination number, and moisture content. Uniaxial compression experiments were performed on Mason sand particles retained between US sieve #10 (2 mm) and #20 (0.84 mm) …

Experimental And Analytical Study Of Dynamic Behavior Of Bridge Superstructures Subjected To Overheight Vehicle Collisions, Yuan Jing

Doctoral Dissertations

The increasing occurrence of over-height vehicle collisions with bridges in the United States leads to concern about the damage due to lateral impact to bridge superstructures by over-height vehicles. However, this issue is not fully addressed in current bridge specifications. Previous researchers have conducted a number of small-scale tests to study the impact process. Also, finite element method (FEM) has largely been used to analyze the complicated collision mechanism.

A full-scale lateral impact testing facility was designed and built on a construction site in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. An AASHTO Type-I prestressed concrete (PC) girder and a Hybrid Composite Beam …

Sustainable Infrastructure Development: A Holistic System Based Decision Making Framework Integrating Vulnerability Indicators And Stakeholders Objectives, Mohamed Saeid Eid

Doctoral Dissertations

Infrastructure systems enable the host communities to expand, develop, and prosper in adequate socioeconomic conditions and healthy environment. Thus, the strategies for sustainable infrastructure development should aim to increase the individual utility of the local stakeholders, while reducing the vulnerability of the built environment to perturbations. Nevertheless, the available frameworks consider the development of the infrastructure systems as isolated projects and do not simultaneously address the needs of the stakeholders or the vulnerability of the built environment. The goal of this research is to provide decision makers and the research community with a novel infrastructure development framework that holistically balances …

Evaluation Of The Hot Mix Asphalt Compactability Utilizing The Impact Compaction Method, Pawel Andrzej Polaczyk

Masters Theses

This study investigates possibility of utilizing an accelerometer to evaluate compactability of Hot Mix Asphalt compacted with an impact hammer. For over 50 years Marshall Asphalt Mix Design has been the principal choice for asphalt mix designers around the world. Although the United States has almost entirely moved to Superpave Mix Design, the rest of the world nations still choose the Marshall Method. The investigation was conducted with the accelerometer placed on the falling mass of the Marshall Hammer and acceleration data was stored and analyzed. Data obtained from the accelerometer was filtered and the asphalt mix response after each …

Wastewater Treatment Improvement For Rush Strong School, Christina R. Sanford Utk, Kelli M. Grissom, Katie Gipson, Sharon Counts

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Particle Morphology And Its Influence On Friction And Dilatancy Of Sands, Karen Carmen Lee

Masters Theses

Particle morphology outlines the general analytical method used to describe soil particles’ structure and shape. The characteristics defining this term include sphericity, roundness, and surface texture. Particle morphology has a significant influence on sand behavior and consequently affects dilatancy and friction. Understanding the relationship between shear strength parameters and particle morphology answers fundamental questions about the mechanics of granular materials in general and has the potential to enhance the development of advanced constitutive models that describe granular materials’ behavior.

Many researchers have reported measurements for sphericity, roundness, and surface texture using both two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) images to analyze …