Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Preliminary Liquefaction Hazard Analysis For Bridge Sites Along The 1-15 Corridor Salt Lake County, Utah, Samuel Gilstrap, Dr. T. Leslie Youd

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The term liquefaction refers to the loss of strength in soils during earthquake shaking. Generally, liquefaction occurs in loose sandy soils which lie beneath the water table. Liquefaction-induced ground failures have been major causes of bridge damage during past earthquakes. My research was to apply state-of-the-art methods for evaluating liquefaction hazard to the bridge sites along the 1-15 corridor in Salt Lake County, Utah. This section of interstate is to be reconstructed over the next 4 years and is one of the largest construction projects ever initiated in Utah. This segment of the highway lies generally parallel to the Salt …

Air/Polymer Diffraction Grating Coupler, Josh Kvavle

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of my research was to fabricate air/dielectric interface diffraction grating couplers. This report will explain the obstacles that I encountered, and the resulting direction that my research took. In summary, soon after I began my research, a very expensive laser that I depended on for this research was sent away for repairs, so I began doing characterization of a polymer.

Coarsening Algorithm For Tetrahedral Meshes, Eve S. Crow, Dr. Steven Benzley

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In Finite Element Analysis (FEA), there are often times when the mesh on the model needs to be more dense or less dense in a certain region. Refinement and coarsening are the tools used to achieve the desired density of a mesh. The CUBIT toolkit has a coarsening algorithm for triangle surface meshes, but the algorithm for coarsening tetrahedral meshes has not been implemented. I have done some research and have a plan for how it could be implemented.

Hydroshare: Advancing Collaboration Through Hydrologic Data And Model Sharing, David G. Tarboton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Parametric Investigation Of The Isotruss® Panel, Gregory J. Larson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The IsoTruss Panel is a three dimensional composite grid structure, evolving from the IsoTruss®. The IsoTruss® implements a revolutionary idea of utilizing the very strong unidirectional characteristics in composite materials in a three dimensional manner. The IsoTruss® is utilized in pole-type applications. The IsoTruss Panel is based on similar principles but is designed for use in plate and wall type structures as well as curved applications.

Evaluation Of Numerical Models For Prediction Fatigue Life Of Cement-Treated Pavement Base Layers, Rebecca Crane, Dr. W. Spencer Guthrie

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Cement treatment of aggregate base materials has been utilized in pavement construction since the 1930s (1). The addition of cement increases the strength and stiffness of the treated material and therefore offers greater structural support to the surface layer and greater protection of the underlying subgrade. However, the use of excessive amounts of cement can produce overly stiff base materials that exhibit brittle behavior under heavy traffic loading; the susceptibility of cement-treated base (CTB) materials to cracking increases with increasing stiffness.

Numerical Modeling Of Chloride Profiles In Concrete Bridge Decks With Stay-In-Place Metal Forms, Aimee Worthen Birdsall, Dr. Spencer Guthrie

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Chloride penetration into concrete is the main cause of the rapid deterioration of concrete structures due to corrosion of reinforcing steel . This problem is especially a concern in chloride-laden environments. However, these chlorides cannot stop being applied because they are applied as deicing salts to maintain traffic during winter months. A solution many departments of transportation have investigated is to cut off the transportation path of these aggressive ions by adding a barrier between the concrete surface and the chloride agents . However, departments of transportation vary in their ideas about when this surface treatment should be applied.

Unnecessary Compaction Effort Due To The 95% Fixation, Aaron B. Smith, Dr. Travis Gerber

Journal of Undergraduate Research

When soils are compacted, they become stronger and experience less settlement. Because of these improved characteristics, soils are usually compacted to some specified level before a foundation is built on top of them. The difficulty encountered is how to determine what the specified level of compaction should be. Currently, the standard in industry has been to compact almost all foundation soils to a minimum of 95% of the maximum laboratory density. Why do engineers almost without exception choose 95%? As stated by Monahan, (1994) industry appears to be fixated with 95%. Should there be a guideline for selecting what this …

Earthquakes: How Will Gravelly Soils Respond?, Thomas J. Weaver, Dr. Kyle M. Rollins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

During earthquakes some soils loose their strength and flow like a liquid. This phenomenon is known as liquefaction. For many years, engineers and scientists have been studying the occurrence of liquefaction in silty and sandy soils. Recently, engineers and scientists have learned that gravelly soils can also liquefy under earthquake loadings. Many dams throughout the world have been constructed using gravelly soils. Much work is now being conducted in the United States to determine the safety of earthfill dams under earthquake loadings.

Ozone Photochemistry In A Natural Gas Basin During Winter: Simulations Of Results From The 2012 Utah Basin Winter Ozone Study, P. M. Edwards, K. J. Akin, J. Degouw, W P. Dubé, J. Gillman, D. Helmig, J S. Holloway, B. Lener, R. Mclaren, D. D. Parrish, J. Peischl, J. M. Roberts, T. B. Ryerson, Randy S. Martin, C. Warneke, E. J. Williams, C. J. Young, S. S. Brown

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The Uintah Basin in northeastern Utah, a region of intense oil and gas extraction, experienced ozone (O3) concentrations above levels harmful to human health for multiple days during the winters of 2009–2010 and 2010–2011. These wintertime O3 pollution episodes occur during cold, stable periods when the ground is snow-covered, and have been linked to emissions from the oil and gas extraction process. The Uintah Basin Winter Ozone Study (UBWOS) was a field intensive in early 2012, whose goal was to address current uncertainties in the chemical and physical processes that drive wintertime O3 production in regions of oil and gas …

Validation Of Earthquake Simulations And Their Effects On Tall Buildings Considering Spectral Shape And Duration, Ting Lin, Gregory Deierlein, Nenad Bijelic

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

2013 Fall Engr333 Project Assignment, Matthew K. Heun

ENGR 333

The Fall 2013 ENGR333 project focused on production and use of biofuels at Calvin University.

I asked the students “What would it take for Calvin College to operate a biofuel vehicle from campus resources?”

Customer

The customer for this project was Calvin’s Physical Plant director Phil Beezhold.

Using Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity (Upv) To Predict Properties And Performance Of Pervious Concrete, Jeremy Adato, Norbert Delatte

Undergraduate Research Posters 2013

Pervious concrete is a type of porous portland cement concrete with interconnected voids. This material has been increasingly used to reduce the amount of stormwater runoff from paved areas. It has also been shown to improve the water quality near low volume and low speed pavements as well as in parking lots. Due to the low compressive strength of pervious concrete associated with the high void content, it currently is not used in highway structures except perhaps as an overlay for conventional concrete pavement. The large, open pore structure of this material allows water to pass through its structure, thereby …

Characterization Of Secondary Organic Aerosol Precursors Using Two-Dimensional Gas Chromatography With Time Of Flight Mass Spectrometry (Gc×Gc/Tofms), Melissa Jordan Roskamp

Dissertations and Theses

The oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) plays a role in both regional and global air quality through the formation of secondary organic aerosols (SOA). More than 1000TgC/yr of non-methane VOCs are emitted from biogenic sources (significantly greater than from anthropogenic sources). Despite this magnitude and potential importance for air quality, the body of knowledge around the identities, quantities and oxidation processes of these compounds is still incomplete (e.g., Goldstein & Galbally, 2007; Robinson et al., 2009). Two-dimensional gas chromatography paired with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC/TOFMS) is a powerful analytical technique which is explored here for its role in better …

High Yield-Displacement Frames For Earthquake Resistance, Daniel Miller, Dr. Paul Richards

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Since the early twentieth century, engineers have recognized the suitability of steel construction for design of earthquake resistant structures. Beginning in the 1990’s, building codes have provided specifications for seismic steel design that are intended to allow inelastic behavior while preventing catastrophic collapse (Hamberger, 2009). However, this inelastic response leads to permanent structural deformation which can require costly building repair or rehabilitation for continued use (Pettinga et al., 2007). A study conducted by Christopoulos and Pampanin (2004) proposes the use of a flexible secondary structural system to act in parallel with the main system in order to limit permanent deformation. …

Issue Brief: Saving By Mitigating, University Of Louisville, New England Environmental Finance Center

Sustainable Communities Capacity Building

Natural disasters can cause loss of life, inflict damage to buildings and infrastructure, and have devastating consequences for a community’s economic, social, and environmental well-being. Hazard mitigation means reducing damages from disasters.

Local governments have the responsibility to protect the health, safety, and welfare of their citizens. Proactive mitigation policies and actions help reduce risk and create safer, more disaster-resilient communities. Mitigation is an investment in your community’s future safety, equity, and sustainability.

Review Of Computer-Aided Numerical Simulation In Wind Energy, Aaron Miller, Byungik Chang, Roy Issa, Gerald Chen

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Many advances have been made during the last decade in the development and application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), finite element analysis (FEA), numerical weather modeling, and other numerical methods as applied to the wind energy industry. The current information about this area of study may help researchers gage research efforts. Specifically, micro-siting, wind modeling and prediction, blade optimization and modeling, high resolution turbine flow modeling, support structure analysis, and noise prediction have been the main focuses of recent research. The advances in this area of research are enabling better designs and greater efficiencies than were possible previously. The trends …

Response Of An Arch Dam To Non-Uniform Excitation Generated By A Seismic Wave Scattering Model, Reza Tarinejad, Rouzbeh Fatehi Shomeh, Ronald S. Harichandran

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Non-uniform ground motions are generated based on a single record available at a site and seismic wave scattering analysis. The Chino Hills 2008 earthquake records at the Pacoima Dam site are used to indicate the accuracy of the method. Dynamic analysis of the Pacoima dam-reservoir-foundation under uniform and non-uniform ground motions is carried out using the EACD-3D2008 software, and the results are compared to recorded responses at different locations on the dam. There is good agreement between computed and recorded displacements of the dam for non-uniform excitation. For uniform excitation, the displacements are underestimated in comparison with those obtained from …

Report On Laboratory Testing Of Fastening Of Cfs Track To Concrete Base Materials With Pafs, With Revision, Ricardo Ramirez, Roger A. Laboube

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

The 2012 AISI S100 Section E5 includes design provisions for power-actuated fasteners (PAFs) for connection of cold-formed steel (CFS) to steel base materials. However, a need exists to develop an in-depth understanding when CFS wall tracks are attached to concrete base materials as part of interior and exterior wall framing applications. Current code requirements, as specified by ASCE 7 – 2010 Chapter 13 (Exception to Section 13.4.5), limit individual PAFs in nonstructural component connections as part of distributed systems, to a sustained tension service load of 90 lbs in concrete and 250 lbs in steel in Seismic Design Categories D, …

Comparison Of Prestress Losses For Pedestrian Bridges Constructed With High-Strength Concrete And High-Strength Self-Consolidating Concrete, John J. Myers, Kurt E. Bloch

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Abstract Two precast prestressed high-strength concrete and high-strength self-consolidating concrete pedestrian bridges were designed and erected in Rolla, Missouri, for an in situ investigative study to monitor time-dependent losses. Using the temperature and strain data monitored by the vibrating wire strain gauges within the beam cross sections, time-dependent losses were determined and compared between the bridges and various empirical expressions presented by AASHTO and the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute. © 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Transferability And Robustness Of Real-Time Freeway Crash Risk Assessment, Cameron Shew, Anurag Pande, Cornelius Nuworsoo

Civil and Environmental Engineering

This study examines the data from single loop detectors on northbound (NB) US-101 in San Jose, California to estimate real-time crash risk assessment models. Method: The classification tree and neural network based crash risk assessment models developed with data from NB US-101 are applied to data from the same freeway, as well as to the data from nearby segments of the SB US-101, NB I-880, and SB I-880 corridors. The performance of crash risk assessment models on these nearby segments is the focus of this research. Results: The model applications show that it is in fact possible to use the …

Distribution And Accumulation Of Trichloroethylene And Trichloroacetic Acid In Hybrid Poplars, Lucas Odom, Joel Gerard Burken, Lee Newman

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Hybrid Poplar Trees Are Known to Take Up Trichloroethylene (TCE) into above Ground Tissues, Where It Degrades into the Metabolites Trichloroacetic Acid (TCAA), Dichloroacetic Acid, and Trichloroethanol and Where Parent Chlorinated Solvents Volatilize to the Atmosphere. based on This Knowledge, Numerous Phytoremediation Applications Have Been Implemented for TCE and Other Chlorinated Solvents. Sampling of Plant Tissues Has Proven Effective for Phytoforensic and Phytoscreening Applications in Assessing Sites and Evaluating the Efficacy of Phytoremediation. However, Little is Known About the Appropriate Exposure Times and Sampling Locations Required to Obtain an Accurate Assessment of TCE and Metabolites. in This Study, Hybrid Poplars …

Advancing The Facilities Management Process In Ireland Through The Implementation Of Building Information Modelling Within The Public Sector, Barry Mcauley, Alan V. Hore, Roger West

Conference papers

It is widely accepted that it costs up to five times more to operate and maintain a building than to construct it. Despite this statistic the Irish construction sector has done little to move towards cutting edge technologies that will help in addressing this impact on life cycle cost. This is due partly to the fact that the Irish construction sector continues to operate in a depressed state. Despite this harsh reality Ireland must find a way to create a public sector that has a more energy efficient and enhanced physical environment in which to operate without sacrificing user thermal …

Analysis Of The Thermal Performance Of A Solar Water Heating System With Flat Plate Collectors In A Temperate Climate, Lacour Ayompe, Aidan Duffy

Articles

The thermal performance of a solar water heating system with 4 m² flat plate collectors in Dublin, Ireland is presented in this paper. The experimental setup consisted of a commercially available forced circulation domestic scale system fitted with an automated sub‐system that controlled hot water draw‐offs and the operation of an auxiliary immersion heater. The system was tested over a year and the maximum recorded collector outlet fluid temperature was 70.4 ^oC while the maximum water temperature at the bottom of the hot water tank was 59.9 ^oC. The annual average daily energy collected was 19.6 MJ/d, …

2013 Driver Attitudes And Awareness Survey, Kenneth R. Agent, Eric R. Green, Ronald E. Langley

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

A basic set of questions was developed that could be used in periodic surveys that track drivers attitudes and awareness concerning impaired driving, seat belt use, and speeding issues. The objective of the survey was to learn the knowledge, views, and behaviors of drivers in these areas. This report documents the results of the 2013 survey with a comparison to the 2011 and 2012 surveys as well as the 2010 baseline survey.

The method used to conduct the survey was a telephone survey. In addition to questions for the three major highway safety areas of impaired driving, seat belt use, …

Civil Engineering And Construction News, Georgia Southern University

Civil Engineering & Construction: News & Publications (2011-2022)

• Two Civil Engineering Students Complete Honors Thesis

Midwest Guardrail System With Southern Yellow Pine Posts, Karla A. Lechtenberg, Robert W. Bielenberg, Ronald K. Faller, Dean L. Sicking, David A. Gutierez, John D. Reid

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

No abstract provided.

Establishing Permanent Vegetation After Highway Construction, John C. Soper, Walter H. Schacht

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

No abstract provided.

Bs News September/October

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Transit Bus Fleet Age And Replacement Type Optimization, Miguel A. Figliozzi, Wei Feng, Jesse Boudart

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Due to recent budget and fiscal constraints, it is ever more imperative for transit agencies to manage their fleets in an optimal way. Fleet data have consistently shown that bus operational and maintenance (O&M) per-mile costs increase as buses age. From a purely economic perspective, there is a cost tradeoff between the lower O&M costs of newer fleets and their higher initial capital costs. This tradeoff has a significant impact on the optimal timing of purchase and replacement decisions. Utilizing realistic cost data and an optimization modeling framework, we analyze (a) the impact of purchase timing decisions on fleet per-mile …