Engineering Commons^™

Experimental Study On Shear Resistance Of Existing Prestressed Concrete Hollow Slabs, Lu Youfu, Di Jin, Qin Fengjiang, Sun Yifei

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

Prestressed concrete hollow slabs are widely used in small- and medium-sized span highway bridges in China.With the increase in load ratings,many hollow slab bridges built in early periods fail to meet the current specifications for shear bearing capacity.Nevertheless,these hollow slabs continue to function adequately under existing vehicle loads,making it essential to conduct an in-depth investigation into their shear bearing capacity.Shear bearing capacity tests were conducted on five 16 m-span hollow slabs dismantled from a renovation and expansion project,including three top slabs with a 15 cm cast-in-place concrete structural layer.Various parameters,such as load-displacement curves,web concrete strain,cracking loads,crack development patterns,failure modes,and ultimate …

Analysis Of Flexural Bearin G Ca Pacity Of Concrete Box Girders Reinforced With, Cfrp Mesh End Anchorshu Guihua

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

Carb on fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP ) composite s have significant advantages in the reinforcement of concrete structures.It is worth systematically studying the effect and mechanism of applying this material in embedded end-anchored reinforcement of concrete box girders on improving the load-bearing capacity of the component.Based on the Abaqus finite element analysis (FEA ) platform,two numerical analysis models considering slip contact and full bonding contact between CFRP mesh and polymer mortar were established.A full-scale concrete box girder model test was conducted for validation.The results show that the FEA results are in good agreement with the experimental results.The FEA model that …

Wind Tunnel Test On Wind-Resistant Performance Of Suspended Monorail Cable-Stayed Bridge, Chen Yujiang

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

To investigate the wind-induced vibration of a suspended monorail bridge,a full-bridge aeroelastic model at a 1∶40 scale was designed and fabricated according to the geometrical parameters and dynamic characteristics of the real bridge.Wind tunnel tests on the bridge in both the completed state and the maximum cantilever state were conducted under different conditions,including uniform flow and turbulent flow,yaw angles of ± 45°,±30°,±15°,and 0°,and wind attack angles of ‒ 3°,0°,and + 3°.Both vertical and torsional displacements of the structure under different wind speeds were measured.The test results show that the vertical displacements and torsional responses of the cable-stayed bridge increase when …

Research On Autonomous Deviation Correction Of Tunnel Boring Machines And Parameters Based On Machine Learning, Zhang Jun, Li Maopeng

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

In order to solve the problem of realizing the autonomous deviation correction of tunnel boring machines (TBMs ), a TBM deviation correction control method that integrated the random forest (RF) algorithm with the genetic algorithm (GA) was proposed based on actual engineering data.The method combined a prediction model with an optimization model,using target deviation values as input to invert and output the required TBM deviation correction parameter values,thereby further improving the automation level of TBM deviation correction.By comparing it with the actual data,the feasibility of the model was verified.The results show that the RF algorithm-based prediction model achieves an R2 …

Study On Mechanical Effect Of Backfill Construction In Orthogonal Underpass Section Of An Open-Cut Interchange Tunnel, Li Qingda, Li Dexing, Yu Tingshun, Han Xi, Liu Jiansong

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

This study investigated the mechanical effects of backfill construction in the orthogonal underpass section of a full-section complex open-cut interchange tunnel.The research was based on the small-clear-distance interchange tunnel project at the extension section of Jinzhou Avenue and Xingguang Avenue in Chongqing.A combined approach of numerical simulation and on-site in-situ test measurement was adopted to analyze the influence of different backfill materials,tunnel cross-section types,and complex construction procedures on the mechanical behavior of the underpass tunnel.The mechanical effects of backfill construction in the orthogonal underpass section were determined.The following findings are revealed:During the backfill construction process,the displacement and internal force of …

Research On Automatic Review Method Of Highway Bim Based On Knowledge Graph, Wang Wuyu, Shao Kebo, Zhang Feng

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

Building information modeling (BIM ),characterized by multi-dimensional modeling and multi-source data integration,is becoming a key technology to promote the innovation and digital transformation of the highway design industry.Taking BIM as the design deliverable is an inevitable trend in the future development of highway engineering design.However,the current highway BIM review is mainly conducted manually,which brings about problems such as low efficiency,susceptibility to errors,and high subjectivity.This makes it difficult to adapt to the review requirements of the three-dimensional (3D) digital design mode.To this end,this study proposed an automatic review method of highway BIM based on a knowledge graph.By constructing the knowledge graph …

Research On Multi-Classification Prediction Of Traffic Accident Severity On Mountainous Expressways, Wang Hao, Yan Jie, Guo Jianmin, Zhang Yu, Sun Chengji

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

To enhance the safety level of mountainous expressways and establish an accurate and effective prediction model for traffic accident severity,this study analyzed 2 484 traffic accidents on mountainous expressways in Chongqing from 2010 to 2016.A total of 17 influencing factors were selected from four aspects:human,vehicle,road,and environment,to serve as explanatory variables.Partial proportional odds model,random forest algorithm,and XGBoost algorithm were used to construct multi-class prediction models for traffic accident severity.The model performance was evaluated using the confusion matrix,accuracy,and minority class recall rate.The results show that the XGBoost model achieves the highest prediction accuracy in multi-class prediction of traffic accident severity on mountainous …

Application And Analysis Of Energy-Conservation And Carbon-Reduction Technologies In Green Highways, Huang Xuewen, Wang Kai, Huang Shanqian, Xiong Xinzhu, Fu Jinsheng

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

To improve the low-carbon development level of highway engineering,this study relied on a typical green highway in Anhui Province and established a calculation model for energy-conservation and carbon-reduction in highway engineering based on the emission factor method.A combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches was adopted to evaluate the benefits of 33 energy-conservation and carbon-reduction technologies in reducing life cycle energy consumption and carbon emissions,based on life cycle assessment (LCA ) theory.The results show that during the material production stage,through channel resource coordination and the application of low-carbon,energy-saving materials,comprehensive reductions in the embodied carbon can be achieved.During the construction stage,energy consumption …

Reference And Inspi Ration From Low-Carbon Development Experience Of Foreign Highway Infrastructure, Lu Chunying, Gao Shuohan, Du Xueyua N, Jian Li, Wang Xinjun, Kong Yaping

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

In order to provide supp ort for the scie ntific formulation of low-carbon highway infrastructure development policies in China,empirical analysis,comparative analysis,and other methods were utilized,and the construction goals and action strategies of low-carbon highway infrastructure in the United Kingdom,the United States,and Australia were sorted out.Advanced experience in the development of low-carbon highways abroad was summarized.On this basis,combined with the current situation and existing problems of low-carbon development of China ’s highway infrastructure,the following countermeasures and suggestions were proposed:① strengthening top-level design and formulating low-carbon development goals and paths;② implementing the concept of life cycle and strengthening the research and promotion …

Analysis And Control Of Impact Of Wide Waterway Excavation On Adjacent Bridge Pile Foundations, Zhang Peisheng, Qiao Lyu, Sheng Jianchao, Sheng Haoxiang, Liu Hanchen, Wang Zhe

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

When excavating a waterway beneath an existing bridge,the pile foundations are subjected to unloading from excavation and the loading from the superstructure,which may lead to excessive displacement and potential safety hazards.Based on the underpass project of the Desheng Expressway Bridge along the Zhejiang section of the Beijing ‒ Hangzhou Canal,this study established a three-dimensional finite element model (FEM ) and combined it with field monitoring to investigate the impact of wide waterway excavation on adjacent bridge pile foundations and corresponding control measures.A novel combined control method involving a retaining wall with supporting piles and fully enclosed isolation piles was proposed.The …

Influence Of Horizontal Curve Radius On Vehicle Fuel Consumption And Pollutant Emissions On Tw O-Lane Highways, Tu Shengwen, Lei Meimei, Guo Wenyu

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

To investigate the influence of horizontal curve radius on vehicle fuel consumption and pollutant emissions on two-lane highways,this study developed a model based on running speed theory,vehicle driving dynamics,and a fuel consumption and emission analysis system.Fuel consumption and emissions of CO2,CO,HC,and NOx were calculated for a passenger car traveling along horizontal curves under three design speeds:40 km/h,60 km/h,and 80 km/h.The results show that the horizontal curve radius has a significant effect on vehicle fuel consumption and pollutant emissions.The trends of fuel consumption,CO2,and NOx emissions vary consistently with curve radius,while CO and HC emissions follow a similar but different trend.At the …

Learning Structure With Multivariate Information Bottleneck And Exploration Of New Methods In Sequential Decision Making, Volodymyr Makarenko

Master's Theses

Research in useful information extraction has been motivated by the increasing demand to extract insights from unstructured data, and by the need to store and transmit great volumes of information, often originating in unstructured data such as videos. Research in rate distortion and information bottleneck paved the path for understanding and guiding the design of lossy encoders, capable of extracting relevant information. Independently, research in deep representation learning has enabled numerous applications for unstructured high-dimensional data such as images. However, the interpretability of the deep learning methods remained limited. Several desired properties of learned representations have been suggested, including disentanglement. …

Autonomous Uav Swarm Formation Utilizing Gradient-Driven Contour Mapping For Radiation Source Localization, Edgar Amalyan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis presents a drone swarm for radiation mapping to aid source localization. The Department of Energy advocates employing UAVs for this task, but existing approaches remain inefficient and impractical in real-world scenarios. Three custom drones are built and flight-tested. A control algorithm to follow a contour, a constant-intensity path, is designed using a gradient fit. By knowing the source’s direction, the drone swarm can fly in the optimal trajectory at every step, leaving nothing to assumption. A program is created that implements formation flight and autonomous navigation. It is tested via a software-in-the-loop simulation utilizing radiation sources and detectors …

The Dropbot: Design And Development Of A Custom Drone For Precision Water Drop Penetration Time (Wdpt) Testing, Mugundan Prakash

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Assessing the hydrophobic characteristics of soil is vital for understanding soil wettability or soil-water interactions, particularly in post-wildfire environments where water repellency can significantly impact ecosystem recovery, water infiltration, and erosion control. One key metric in soil wettability studies is the Water Drop Penetration Time (WDPT) test, which evaluates the hydrophobicity of soil and guides land treatment strategies. This thesis presents the design and development of DropBot, a custom-built drone platform engineered for the precise delivery and analysis of water droplets in WDPT tests.The DropBot, a custom drone, integrates a lightweight, 3D-printed frame with a self-leveling platform, enabling consistent droplet …

A Study Of Wear Measurement And Life Prediction Of Insert Chute Liner On Gold Ore Processing, Ferry Ardika Natanael, Nony Maulidya, Dedi Priadi

Journal of Materials Exploration and Findings

Chutes are critical materials handling assets to transport solid particles from one process step to another in mineral processing, coal mining and cement industries. The material transport, because of material characteristics, cause severe wear on internal lining of chutes or bins’ structure. The wear problem on internal lining of bins or chutes needs to be checked to keep production efficiency. Therefore, not checked wear rate causes liner replacement schedule becomes unpredictable. It leads to production loss and highly cost maintenance in industry. This study shows that condition-based maintenance through regular thickness measurement using Ultrasonic Transducer (UT) to predict life service …

Analysis Of Leak Testing Planning For Carbon Dioxide Piping Systems In The Development Of Carbon Capture, Utilization, And Storage Facilities In The Bintuni Basin, Devi Sentiani, Akhmad Herman Yuwono Professor

Journal of Materials Exploration and Findings

Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) technologies have become a key strategic response to global efforts to reduce CO₂ emissions. This study presents a leak testing strategy designed for a carbon dioxide (CO₂) piping system as part of a Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) project in the Bintuni Basin, West Papua, Indonesia. This study aims to ensure the system is properly prepared before commissioning by designing a leak test plan that is both practical and technical, based on ASME B31.3, ASME PCC-2, and API STD 520 Part 1. We conducted the process, which involves identifying the system boundaries, …

Development Of An Access Charge Framework For High-Speed Rail Incorporating Rail Replacement Costs And Dynamic Train Characteristics, Nitesh Kumar Yadav

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis develops a framework to determine track access charges for shared high-speed rail corridors, with a focus on rail replacement cost driven by train-induced loads. The method explicitly accounts for both static loads, resulting from axle weights, and dynamic loads that arise from train speed and track geometry, particularly curvature. Train characteristics such as axle load, operating speed, frequency of service, and number of wheels are integrated with track parameters, including curve radius, to calculate the total vertical load. These loads are used to estimate the cumulative tonnage threshold for rail replacement and the resulting service life of the …

Advancing Comfort And Efficiency: Radiant Heating And Cooling Systems For Sustainable Architecture, Tarek Abedin, Md Mahfuzur Rahman, Zihad Hasan Joy, Khaled Alnamasi, Irfan Anjum Badruddin, Muhammad Nasir Bashir, Mohammad Nur-E-Alam

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This paper provides a thorough examination of Radiant Heating and Cooling (RHC) systems in the context of sustainable building practices. It covers the evolution, theoretical foundations, technological advancements, financial considerations, and practical uses of RHC systems. A comprehensive historical overview, tracing the evolution of RHC from ancient times to its current state, highlighting significant innovations that have greatly influenced its application in modern architecture. The scientific principles of thermal comfort, including Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT) and thermal asymmetry, which play a crucial role in the design and effectiveness of RHC systems has been explored. This article delves into recent technological …

Ai-Driven Solutions For Electricity Fraud Detection: A Data-Centric Approach, Fatemeh Alimoradi, Zahra Alimoradi, S. Mohammadali Zanjani, Ghazanfar Shahgholian

NJF Intelligent Engineering Journal

Electricity fraud detection presents a significant challenge for power distribution companies, as non-technical losses resulting from fraudulent activities adversely affect revenue and operational efficiency. This study presents a machine learning-driven approach for accurately identifying fraudulent electricity consumption patterns. A comprehensive analysis of electricity usage data is conducted using multiple classification models, including Support Vector Machine (SVM), K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), a Stacking Model integrating SVM, KNN, Random Forest, and Gradient Boosting, as well as a Weighted Model leveraging confidence-based prediction adjustments. Model performance is evaluated using key metrics, including accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, AUC-ROC, and confusion matrices. The results indicate that …

Application Of Ann Artificial Network In Slope Behavior Evaluation Using Machine Learning Technique, Marziyeh Tourani, Hadi Bahadori

NJF Intelligent Engineering Journal

In geotechnical engineering, evaluating slope stability remains a significant challenge due to inherent soil variability and environmental uncertainty. This study explores the application of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) in predicting the factor of safety (FoS) of slopes using dimensionless input variables. An initial dataset of 349 samples was refined to 259 validated cases after removing outliers and incomplete entries. The input parameters were transformed into nondimensional forms c / γh, (tan(⌀)) / (tan (β)), and p / γh based on fluid mechanics principles to improve generalization and reduce dimensional bias. A feedforward ANN model …

Sleep Disorder Diagnosis Using Eeg Signals And Lstm Deep Learning Method, Mohammad Reza Yousefi, Reza Rahimi

NJF Intelligent Engineering Journal

Diagnosing brain disorders, particularly sleep disorders, has emerged as a critical area of research in both basic sciences and engineering. Sleep disorders encompass a range of conditions, including excessive or insufficient sleep, frequent awakenings, difficulty falling asleep, and challenges in reaching deep sleep stages. A key application of sleep disorder diagnosis lies in supporting the medical community through the development of advanced algorithms and models capable of accurately identifying these disorders based on individual brain signals, such as those captured by electroencephalography (EEG). These sophisticated approaches facilitate the creation of personalized treatment programs, paving the way for more targeted and …

Nanofluid-Enhanced Hvac&R Systems (2015–2025): Experimental, Numerical, And Ai-Driven Insights With A Strategic Roadmap, Aung Myat, Md Mashiur Rahman, Muhammad Akbar

Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering Faculty Research

Heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC&R) systems account for a significant share of global energy demand, prompting intensive research into advanced thermal enhancement techniques. Among these, nanofluids—colloidal suspensions of nanoparticles in base fluids—have shown promise in boosting heat transfer performance. This review provides a structured and critical evaluation of nanofluid applications in HVAC&R systems, synthesizing research published from 2015 to 2025. A total of 200 peer-reviewed articles were selected from an initial pool of over 900 through a systematic filtering process. The selected literature was thematically categorized into experimental, numerical, hybrid, and AI/ML-based studies, with further classification by fluid …

A Hybrid Deep Learning Approach For Lung Diseases Classification Using Vision Transformer And Densenet, Noor Abd Alrazak Shnain, Mohammed Abdulameer Aljanabi

NJF Intelligent Engineering Journal

Lung disorders, such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, and COVID-19, remain significant global health issues. Accurate and early detection is of paramount significance to ensure effective treatment and control. Conventional CNN models like DenseNet have shown superior performance in the classification of medical images, whereas Vision Transformers (ViTs) have recently gained momentum as formidable models to capture global context information. Each of these models, however, has limitations when operated standalone. This manuscript suggests an innovative hybrid deep learning framework that synergizes the benefits of both ViT and DenseNet to advance lung disease diagnosis using chest X-ray images. The hybrid model uses both …

Effects Of Spent Coffee Grounds On Improvement Of Resistive Switching Characteristics In Natural Rubber-Based Memory, Muhammad Awais, Nadras Othman, Mohamad Danial Shafiq, Feng Zhao, Kuan Yew Cheong

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The recent upsurge in environmental awareness provokes the widespread usage of green materials in sustainable electronic applications. Herein, the effects of spent coffee grounds (SCGs) on natural rubber (NR)-based resistive switching (RS) memory are systematically investigated. This study presents the fabrication of a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) structure using NR incorporated with SCGs (0 to 8 wt.%) as a memristive layer and sandwiched between electrodes. A significant improvement in the ON/OFF ratio from 10⁴ for pure NR to 10⁷, read memory window increased from 2.03 to 2.45 V with improved stability even after 130 cycles of switching is achieved …

Career: Flavones As Safe, Sustainable Additives To Tune Biodegradable Plastic Stability, Kyle Moor

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Rapid: Data Collection On Roadway Vehicle Abandonment In The Fast-Moving Los Angeles Wildfire Evacuations, Sarah Grajdura

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

A Meta-Analysis Of Historic Drinking Water Emergency Events Reported In News Articles, Victor Yu, Haiying Wang, Weiwei Mo

Faculty Publications

This study seeks to investigate historical drinking water contamination events that reported by news media to find the key determinants of their outcomes, including the duration and economic cost, and to quantitatively describe the characteristics of past contamination events. ProQuest Global Newsstream and Regional Business News were used to identify an initial list of events and supplemented by additional search on specific information including the response actions, economic cost, and more. These events were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and regression modeling. Smaller community water systems were found to be more frequently impacted by contamination events. Use restrictions, except …

Improving Particle-Phase Nitrate Measurement In Pm2.5 Filter Sampling: Evaluation Of A Denuder–Nylon Filter Modification In The Spartan Network, Wenyu Liu

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Accurate measurement of PM_2.5 composition is of global importance. Evaporation-induced mass loss introduces potential bias in filter-based PM_2.5 measurements, with ammonium nitrate volatilization from Teflon filters being a major contributor to negative mass artifacts. Previous studies have demonstrated that using an acid gas denuder in combination with nylon filters can help recover the nitrate mass. This study evaluates design modifications to the AirPhoton sampling station setup within the globally distributed Surface Particulate Matter Network (SPARTAN) incorporating an additional acid gas denuder upstream and a nylon filter downstream of the existing Teflon filter.

Two co-located AirPhoton Sampling stations were …

Safe Real-Time Obstacle Detection And Navigation Using Cbf–Clf And Cbf–Pid Control, Nicolas M. Hernandez

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Traditional robotic navigation pipelines typically follow a three stage architecture: obstacle detection, path planning, and low-level control for trajectory tracking. While effective in static environments, these methods often introduce latency and lack formal guarantees of safety in dynamic or unplanned for scenarios. Our work addresses these limitations by developing a real-time controller grounded in Control Barrier Functions (CBFs) and Control Lyapunov Functions (CLFs), unified through a Quadratic Program (QP). We first investigate a hybrid CBF-PID-QP controller on a 1/10 scale car, where the CBF serves as a real-time safety filter, modifying the PID output to prevent constraint violations. While this …

Validity Of Body Composition Estimates In Women Assessed By A Multifrequency Bioelectrical Impedance Device, Mitchell Evan Zaplatosch, Juliana F. Meireles, Janeen S. Amason, Sadaf Dabeer, Brian M. Kliszczewicz, Gerald Mangine, Valene G. Barry, Barbara A. Gower, Katherine H. Ingram

Faculty Articles

Background: Multifrequency bioelectrical impedance devices such as the InBody 770 (IB770) offer faster measurements and lower costs compared with other body composition assessments. This study validated measures from IB770 against the deuterium oxide dilution technique (D2O) and DXA and compared a four-compartment (4C) model using total body water (TBW) derived from IB770 compared with D2O. Methods: A total of 55 adult females (mean ± SD, age: 21.1 ± 2.6 years) completed IB770 and DXA scans and the D2O protocol. Lin’s concordance correlation coefficients (CCCs), Bland–Altman analyses, and other equivalence tests evaluated agreement between IB770 and the criterion for measures of …