Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Fire-Resistance Testing Procedures For Construction Elements—A Review, Shashikant Chaturvedi, Ajitanshu Vedrtnam, Maged A. Youssef, Martin T. Palou, Gonzalo Barluenga, Kishor Kalauni

Civil and Environmental Engineering Publications

Fire accidents are a significant risk to human life and civil infrastructure. As a countermeasure, the regulatory bodies of different countries have established standards for evaluating the performance of construction elements during fire exposure. ISO 834 is the globally accepted fire-resistance testing standard. Other standards include ASTM E119, BS 476, IS 3809, JIS A 1304, AS 1503, EN 1363, and GB/T 9978, which are utilized by the US, Britain, India, Japan, Australia, Europe, and China, respectively. This article presents a summary and comparison of the fire-resistance testing standards. In reality, standard tests for isolated structural members may not efficiently portray …

Foam-Based Floatovoltaics: A Potential Solution To Disappearing Terminal Natural Lakes, Koami Soulemane Hayibo, Joshua M. Pearce

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

Terminal lakes are disappearing worldwide because of direct and indirect human activities. Floating photovoltaics (FPV) are a synergistic system with increased energy output because of water cooling, while the FPV reduces water evaporation. This study explores how low-cost foam-based floatovoltaic systems can mitigate the disappearance of natural lakes. A case study is performed on 10%–50% FPV coverage of terminal and disappearing Walker Lake. Water conservation is investigated with a modified Penman-Monteith evapotranspiration method and energy generation is calculated with an operating temperature model experimentally determined from foam-based FPV. Results show FPV saves 52,000,000 m3/year of water and US$6,000,000 at 50% …

The Greenest Solar Power? Life Cycle Assessment Of Foam-Based Flexible Floatovoltaics, Koami Soulemane Hayibo, Pierce Mayville, Joshua M. Pearce

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

This study presents a life cycle analysis (LCA) of a 10 MW foam-based floatovoltaics (FPV) plant installed on Lake Mead, Nevada, U.S. A material inventory of the flexible crystalline silicon (c-Si)-based module involved massing and determination of material composition of the module's encapsulation layers with ATR/FTR spectroscopy and electron microscopy. The LCA was performed using SimaPro and the results were interpreted in terms of cumulative energy demands, energy payback time, global warming potential, GHG emissions, and water footprint including negative values for reduced evaporation. A sensitivity analysis was performed on the lifetime of the modules and the foam-based racking. The …

Bridge Damage Identification Using Deep Learning-Based Convolutional Neural Networks (Cnns), Sandeep Sony

Civil and Environmental Engineering Publications

In this paper, a novel method is proposed based on a windowed-one-dimensional convolutional neural network for multiclass damage detection using acceleration responses. The data is pre-processed and augmented by extracting samples of windows of the original acceleration time series. 1D CNN is developed to classify the signals in multiple classes. The damage is detected if the predicted classification is one of the indicated damage levels. The damage is quantified using the predicted class probabilities. Various signals from the accelerometers are provided as input to the 1D CNN model, and the resulting class probabilities are used to identify the location of …

A Systematic Review Of Convolutional Neural Network-Based Structural Condition Assessment Techniques, Sandeep Sony, Kyle Dunphy, Ayan Sadhu, Miriam A M Capretz

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

With recent advances in non-contact sensing technology such as cameras, unmanned aerial and ground vehicles, the structural health monitoring (SHM) community has witnessed a prominent growth in deep learning-based condition assessment techniques of structural systems. These deep learning methods rely primarily on convolutional neural networks (CNNs). The CNN networks are trained using a large number of datasets for various types of damage and anomaly detection and post-disaster reconnaissance. The trained networks are then utilized to analyze newer data to detect the type and severity of the damage, enhancing the capabilities of non-contact sensors in developing autonomous SHM systems. In recent …

Performance-Based Design Of Rc Beams Using An Equivalent Standard Fire, Robert T. Kuehnen, Maged Youssef, Salah El-Din F. El-Fitiany

Civil and Environmental Engineering Publications

The design of buildings for fire events is essential to ensure occupant safety. Supplementary to simple prescriptive methods, performance-based fire design can be applied to achieve a greater level of safety and flexibility in design. To make performance-based fire design more accessible, a time equivalent method can be used to approximate a given natural fire event using a single standard fire with a specific duration. Doing so, allows for natural fire events to be linked to the wealth of existing data from the standard fire scenario.

In this paper, the use of an existing time equivalent method is reviewed and …

Experimental And Numerical Structural Assessment Of Transparent And Tinted Glass During Fire Exposure, A Vedrtnam, C Bedon, Maged A. Youssef, M Wamiq, Amer Sabsabi, S Chaturvedi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Publications

Transparency, illumination, aesthetic and energy requirements have considerably increased the use of glass in modern high-rise buildings. During fire exposure, fracture and shattering of windows and facades accelerate the spread and severity of fire, which increases the risk for the occupants and the amount of structural damage. This paper aims at analyzing the effect of non-uniform thermal gradients on the flexural capacity of ordinary glass panels. Both transparent and tinted glass panels are considered to account for widely-used glass compositions. The bending response of fire-damaged glass panels is experimentally explored considering different durations of thermal exposure. The thermal breakage due …

Seismic Performance Of Modular Steel-Braced Frames Utilizing Superelastic Shape Memory Alloy Bolts In The Vertical Module Connections, Papia Sultana, Maged A. Youssef

Civil and Environmental Engineering Publications

In modular construction, individual modules are constructed at a controlled industrial environment before being transported to site. They are then connected horizontally and vertically to form a structure. The vertical connections can be achieved by welding or bolting the columns of stacked modules. This study investigates the seismic performance of modular steel-braced frames (MSBFs) connected vertically using superelastic shape memory alloy (SMA) bolts. The study also identifies the required locations of SMA connections, in a typical MSBF, to optimize its seismic performance in terms of maximum inter-story drift (MID), maximum residual inter-story residual drift (MRID), and damage scheme.

Equivalent Standard Fire Duration To Evaluate Internal Temperatures In Natural Fire Exposed Rc Beams, Robert T. Kuehnen, Maged A. Youssef

Civil and Environmental Engineering Publications

With the recent shift towards performance-based fire design, practical methods to account for natural fire loading when designing concrete structures are needed. Available design methods and analysis approaches are based on standard fire curves. To apply these methods, a natural fire event can be converted to a standard fire with a specific duration (time equivalent). However, existing time equivalents often ignore the influence of internal temperature gradients on the section behaviour, which is unacceptable for concrete structures.

This paper introduces a time equivalent method suitable for reinforced concrete (RC) beams exposed to natural fire. The method is based on the …

Seismic Landslide Hazard Mapping For Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Ali Fallah Yeznabad, Sheri E. Molnar, Hesham M. El Naggar

Western Research Forum

The lower Mainland of southwest British Columbia (BC) hosts about 3.5 million people and significant infrastructures of national importance. Southwestern BC has the highest seismic risk in Canada with significant potential to cause earthquake-induced hazards including tsunamis, liquefaction and landslides. A Cascadia mega-thrust (M_W 9) earthquake is predicted to generate $75 billion Canadian dollars in losses. This damage can be resulted from ground shaking or its secondary phenomena like landslides; ground shaking during earthquakes may trigger landslides that can damage or destroy buildings, bury roads and highways and kill and injure people. In Canada, during the past century and …

Commercial Water Claims: City Of London Assessment Of Claims Made By London Residents, Jonathan Abbruzzese, Yousir Aldin, Christine Eagles, Karen Lemon, Alexander Watson

Community Engaged Learning Final Projects

The City of London has a mandate to provide its residents with high grade water and yet there have been complaints concerning the impurities, otherwise known as residuals, and the overall quality. This paper delves into the truth about the contents of the municipal water system and what the effects of its components are to the London populace. A public survey asked residents questions about their concerns and water drinking habits. The survey pointed to concerns about fluoride, residual chlorine and overall taste of water among others. Fluoride is known to reduce tooth decay (CDC, 2018) and any negative consequences …

Flexural Behaviour Of Superelastic Shape Memory Alloy Reinforced Concrete Beams During Loading And Unloading Stages, Yamen Ibrahim Elbahy, Maged Youssef

Civil and Environmental Engineering Publications

Trend of using smart structures, which can adjust when exposed to severe unexpected loading, is increasing. One of the methods to achieve such structures relies on smart materials. For example, replacing conventional steel reinforcing bars in Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures with superelastic Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) bars significantly reduces the residual deformations caused by post-yielding behaviour. This paper provides in-depth understanding of the flexural behaviour of SMA RC beams. A sectional analysis method, which predicts the flexural behaviour of SMA RC beams during both loading and unloading stages, is adopted and validated using available experimental data. An extensive parametric study …

Seismic Performance Of Reinforced Concrete Frames Retrofitted Using External Superelastic Shape Memory Alloy Bars, Yamen Ibrahim Elbahy, Maged A. Youssef, Mohamed E. Meshaly

Civil and Environmental Engineering Publications

Pre-1970s designed and built reinforced concrete frame structures are considered unsafe when subjected to seismic loads. Insufficient anchorage of the beam reinforcement in the beam-column joints of these structures is considered a main deficiency. Newly built frame structures are seismically designed for safety, where high inelastic deformations can occur under moderate to strong earthquakes. Minimizing these inelastic deformations makes the structure repairable. One way to minimize these residual deformations is by using smart materials such as superelastic shape memory alloys (SMAs). In this paper, the seismic performance of RC frames retrofitted using external superelastic SMA bars is investigated and compared …

Ductile Corrosion-Free Self-Centering Concrete Elements, Maged Youssef, Mohamed E. Meshaly, Ahmed Elansary

Civil and Environmental Engineering Publications

Corrosion is a major factor in the deterioration of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. To mitigate this problem, steel bars can be replaced with glass-fiber-reinforced-polymer (GFRP) bars. However, the lack of ductility of GFRP-RC elements has prevented their use in many structural applications, especially in seismic areas. Superelastic shape memory alloy (SMA) bars have been proposed to be used in seismic areas because of their self-centering characteristics. Also, they have the added advantage of being corrosion resistant. This paper examines the combined use of SMA and GFRP bars to achieve ductile self-centering and corrosion-free elements. The first challenge for such a …

Plastic Hinge Relocation In Reinforced Concrete Beams Using Cu-Al-Mn Sma Bars, S. Pareek, Maged Youssef, Mohamed E. Meshaly, Y. Araki

Civil and Environmental Engineering Publications

costs. The use of Ni-Ti superelastic shape memory alloy (SMA) constitutes a considerable portion of this research. Cu-Al-Mn superelastic SMA has been recently developed to eliminate the high cost of Ni-Ti SMA, as well as, to have better machining characteristics. This paper explores the use of Cu-Al-Mn SMA bars to relocate the plastic hinge of concrete beams through an experimental–numerical study. The cyclic performance of four beams was examined. The first was reinforced with steel bars and the remaining three were reinforced with combination of SMA and steel bars. The location of the SMA bars was different for each of …

Assessment Of The Flexural Behavior Of Reinforced Concrete Beams Strengthened With Concrete Jackets, M. Monir A. Alhadid, Maged Youssef

Civil and Environmental Engineering Publications

Analysis of continuous jacketed Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams requires accounting for the nonlinear behavior of the interface and the materials as well as redistribution of moments. This kind of analysis is complex and require an advanced level of knowledge and experience to perform. Engineers need simplified yet robust tools to practically predict the actual behavior of jacketed RC beams. In the current practice, slip is neglected in the analysis and monolithic behavior is assumed for the jacketed section, which result in higher estimates of stiffness and/or capacity. This paper provides a simplified method to analyze continuous jacketed RC beams taking …

Seismic Fragility Assessment Of Superelastic Shape Memory Alloy Reinforced Concrete Shear Walls, Emad A. Abraik, Maged A. Youssef

Civil and Environmental Engineering Publications

Mitigation of seismic damage can be achieved through self-centering techniques. One of the potential techniques involves the use of Superelastic Shape Memory Alloy (SE-SMA) bars in Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures. This study explores the use of such bars in the plastic-hinge regions of RC walls. The seismic performance and vulnerability of SE‑SMA RC walls of ten- and twenty-story buildings are analytically assessed using fragility curves. The maximum inter-story drift, residual drift, and fragility are evaluated using multi strip analysis. The results clearly demonstrate the superior seismic performance of SE-SMA RC walls as compared to steel RC walls.

Seismic Performance Of Modular Steel Frames Equipped With Shape Memory Alloy Braces, Papia Sultana, Maged A. Youssef

Civil and Environmental Engineering Publications

The demand for modular steel buildings (MSBs) has increased because of the improved quality, fast on-site installation, and lower cost of construction. Steel braced frames are usually utilized to form the lateral load resisting system of MSBs. During earthquakes, the seismic energy is dissipated through yielding of the components of the braced frames, which results in residual drifts. Excessive residual drifts complicate the repair of damaged structures or render them irreparable. Researchers have investigated the use of superelastic shape memory alloys (SMAs) in steel structures to reduce the seismic residual deformations. This study explores the potential of using SMA braces …

Evaluating The Liquefaction And Reliquefaction Behavior Of A Carbonate Sand, Abouzar Sadrekarimi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Presentations

Despite extensive amount of research on liquefaction analysis of sands, reliquefaction behavior and cyclic liquefaction resistance of cohesionless soils under a repeated cyclic load have not received the same amount of consideration. This is important as most soil deposits in high seismic areas have been subjected to repeated number of earthquakes. This paper presents series of laboratory cyclic simple shear tests on specimens of a local carbonate sand from London, Ontario. Sand specimens are reconstituted at relative densities of 25%, 45%, and 65% and subjected to effective vertical stresses of 50, 100, 200, 400, and 600 kPa. Reconstituted samples are …

Fire Performance Of Reinforced Concrete Frames Using Sectional Analysis, Salah El-Din F. El-Fitiany, Maged Youssef

Civil and Environmental Engineering Publications

Global behavior of RC structures during fire events can be predicted using complex nonlinear thermal-structural numerical simulations. However, such simulations are computationally expensive, which limit their use by design engineers. A practical approach to track the performance of RC frames during fire exposure is proposed and validated in this paper. A previously developed simple heat transfer technique is used to calculate an average 1D temperature distribution for heated RC sections. Consequently, the flexural and axial stiffnesses as well as the unrestrained thermal deformations are evaluated using sectional analysis. Based on rational assumptions, simplified expressions are also driven to evaluate those …

Analysis Of Reinforced Concrete Beams Strengthened Using Concrete Jackets, M. Monir A. Alhadid, Maged Youssef

Civil and Environmental Engineering Publications

Analysis of jacketed Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams considering the interfacial slip effect is a complicated problem. In the current practice, slip is neglected in the analysis and monolithic behavior is assumed in the jacketed section resulting in higher estimates of stiffness and/or capacity. Engineers need simplified yet robust tools to predict the actual behavior of jacketed RC beams. This paper provides a simplified method to analyze jacketed RC beams taking into account the interfacial slip distribution and the actual nonlinear behavior of both concrete and steel. An iterative calculation algorithm is developed to determine the moment-curvature and load-deflection curves of …

Shape Memory Alloy Reinforced Concrete Frames Vulnerable To Strong Vertical Excitations, M A. Elfeki, Maged A. Youssef

Civil and Environmental Engineering Publications

Reinforced concrete (RC) framed buildings dissipate the seismic energy through yielding of the reinforcing bars. This yielding jeopardizes the serviceability of these buildings as it results in residual lateral deformations. Superelastic shape memory alloys (SMAs) can recover inelastic strains by stress removal. This paper extends previous research by the authors that optimized the use of SMA bars in RC frames considering the horizontal seismic excitation by addressing the effect of the vertical seismic excitation. A steel RC six-storey building designed according to current seismic standards is considered as case study. Five different earthquake records with strong vertical components are …

Ductile Corrosion-Free Gfrp-Stainless Steel Reinforced Concrete Elements, Maged A. Youssef, Mohamed E. Meshaly, Ahmed Elansary

Civil and Environmental Engineering Publications

Corrosion of steel rebars is known to cause deterioration of concrete structures that can lead to catastrophic failures. To mitigate this problem, steel rebars can be replaced with Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) rebars. However, the lack of ductility of GFRP-reinforced elements has prevented their use in many structural applications, especially in seismic areas. Stainless Steel (SS) rebars are corrosion resistant and have adequate energy absorption and ductility. However, they are much more expensive than steel rebars. This paper proposes the combined use of SS and GFRP rebars to achieve ductile and corrosion-free elements. The first challenge for such a proposal …

Env 601 A New Method For Converting Sewage To Energy Using Self-Sustaining Smouldering, Tarek L. Rashwan

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

A major challenge in designing resilient infrastructure is to meet the needs of sustainable development . Sustainable development requires a high degree of energy efficiency. Municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), in particular, have the potential to be much more sustainable.

Env-601: A New Method For Converting Sewage To Energy Using Self-Sustaining Smouldering, Tarek L. Rashwan, Jason I. Gerhard, Gavin P. Grant

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

A major challenge in designing resilient infrastructure is to meet the needs of sustainable development (Kennedy & Corfee-Morlot, 2013). Sustainable development requires a high degree of energy efficiency. Municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), in particular, have the potential to be much more sustainable. In the U.S., 3 – 4% of the total energy consumed is dedicated to WWTPs and drinking water services, accounting for 30 – 40% of energy consumed by municipalities (U.S. EPA, 2014). In Canada, 25% of the $123 billion municipal deficit in 2006 was tied to water supply systems (i.e., drinking water, wastewater, and storm water) (Mirza, …

Env-604: Enhanced Electro-Oxidation For Tkn Removal From Highly Polluted Industrial Wastewater, Arash F. Jahromi, Maria Elektorowicz, Nadezda Zhukovskaya

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Many industrial effluents contain concentrated Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN), which may might be also accompanied with ammonia, sulfur, iron, total solids, etc. Conventional wastewater treatment plants are unable to remove TKN, to a level acceptable for the ecosystem, thus, such wastewater has to be treated at the source; however, adequate methods have not been demonstrated yet. The industrial wastewater of concern, which contained 14 g TKN/L and 11 g NH4/L had a low probability to be biologically treated, therefore, an enhanced electro-oxidation method was proposed in this study. The industrial effluent was subjected to a series of tests, where finally …

Env-605: Use Of Nonwoven Geotextiles For Removing Nutrients And Suspended Solids From A Eutrophic Lake, Shrabani Sarma, Catherine N. Mulligan, Keoponnreay Kim, Dileep P. Veetil, Sam Bhat

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

Eutrophication has been identified as one of the leading risks to surface water quality especially for lake water quality in Canada. The objective of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of nonwoven geotextiles in reducing the nutrients and suspended solids to improve lake water quality. A small scale field experiment was conducted beside a lake by using nonwoven geotextiles as filter media. Custom-made geotextiles were used in different combinations to provide maximum efficiency in removing nutrients and suspended solids (SS) to achieve an acceptable level within a shorter period of time. For an initial turbidity ranging from 4 to …

Env-607: Surfactant-Modified Biomass Adsorbents For Enhanced Removal Of Pollutants From Aqueous Solution, Chunjiang An, Gordon Huang, Yarong Shi, Xiaying Xin, Yao Yao, Yan Zhang, Wenxia Wang, Xia Liu

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

From the view of economical efficiency and technology sustainability, considerable attention has been recently given to the use of low-cost biomass residues as adsorbents in pollution control. To achieve a desirable adsorptive efficiency, some efforts have also been made to modify biomass adsorbents through appropriate treatments. There is a particular interest in surfactant-assisted biomass surface modification. Although some findings from previous studies are encouraging, knowledge about the adsorption of pollutants onto surfactant-modified biomass is still limited. A number of issues about the characteristics of involved interface transport are poorly understood. The present study therefore aims to examine the adsorption of …

Env-608: A Feasibility Study On Sulfolane Degradation In Groundwater Using Neutral Fenton Catalysts, Linlong Yu, Gopal Achari, Cooper H. Langford, Ian Keir

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

In this paper, degradation of sufolane in an acidic or near neutral pH using Fenton or modified Fenton catalysts was investigated. The catalysts included nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) iron complex and several commercially available products marketed as neutral pH catalysts. The experiments were conducted both in lab synthetic water and sulfolane contaminated groundwater. Our results showed that more than 99% of sulfolane can be removed by the classic Fenton-like reagent in acidic condition. At near neutral pH, 60% of sulfolane reduction in groundwater was achieved by adding NTA/Fe(III)/H2O2. Among the four commercially available products investigated, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) chelated iron showed …

Env-609: Treatment Of Pcbs Contaminated Soil Using An Integrated System, Linlong Yu, Jordan Hollman, Stephanie Kroeker, Sobhan Iranmanesh, Gopal Achari, Cooper H. Langford, Janine Wildschut

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering

This research describes the full scale evaluation and testing of an integrated PCBs treatment system. Experiments were conducted on organic soil contaminated with PCBs. The result showed that a removal efficiency of 95% can be achieved using a three cycle isopropyl alcohol (IPA) extraction. It also showed that at least 80% of IPA can be recycled and reused for further extraction of PCBs. The concentrated PCB extracts can be photodechlorinated in an alkaline condition. The successful testing of this integrated PCB treatment system demonstrates this technology to be a promising solution to a very difficult problem.