Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Reducing The Porosity And Sealing Cracks By Using Crystalline Admixture In Conventional Concrete, Visar Krelani, Liberato Ferrara

UBT International Conference

There is a continuous increase of quality on civil engineering materials in developed countries and parallel increase of need for new constructions in developing countries. Professional community should propose solutions for the durability that can resist in different severe environments. The most important factor that can affect concrete durability is represented by the pore distribution. Transport properties can take place through the porous network inside the cementitious composites and the aggregates interface, permitting the ingress of aggressive agents damaging concrete function intrinsically as a material and the wellfunctioning of the entire structure. The use of a crystalline admixture during the …

Using Of Proper Pavement Material For The Intersections With Slow-Moving Traffic, Bekim Selimi

UBT International Conference

Use of proper pavement material for some of intersections need special attention by road designers. At Camp Bondsteel-Kosovo on 2002 were built four road intersections using the concrete as pavement material. Heavy and slow-moving trucks that are turning or accelerating exposed these intersections to some of the highest stress level. After some years this intresections start deteriorating on their surface due to friction. The concrete pavements did not survive this period of usage and after eight years were removed and replaced with asphalt pavements. After more than seven years, the asphalt has shown minor distress but is still in good …

Developing A New Total Sediment Transport Formula, Davut Okeu, Sokol Xhafa, Sevdije Govori, Majlinda Daci

UBT International Conference

Sediment transport is one of the most powerful factor on river hydrology. It has vital importance for water engineering projects. There are many sediment transport formulas in the literature but most of them are derived from small data sets of natural rivers or experimental designs. Each formulation has its own restrictions, which depends on the original dataset of that study. None of them have gained universal acceptance. As a result, investigation towards the development of more accurate and simpler formulae is still necessary and should be continued.

The aim of this study is to derive a new total sediment load …

Heritage Under Pressure The Case Of The “Bypass” In Gjirokastra World Heritage Site Albania, Kreshnik Merxhani, Valmira Bozgo

UBT International Conference

The following article is an account presenting a professional movement opposing a planned and approved project for the construction of a new road known as the “Bypass”, which endangered the Historic Center of Gjirokastra. The project, consisted in the construction of a new road, with the initial aim of diverting automobile traffic from the Bazaar, turning it into a pedestrian zone. However after a few procedural problems were noted, it became clear that the project itself was not fulfilling its original aim, and further more posed a threat to the historical center. During the only public consultation session held for …

The Influence Of The Radius Of The Curve And The Lateral Slope On The Safety Of The Vehicle, Baxhuku Visar, Koca Odisea, Çekiçi Visar

UBT International Conference

The movement of the vehicle in a curve related to the construction of the road is expressed through the influence of the radius of the curve and the transversal inclination of the road. Two of these quantities are fixed quantities ever since the projection and then construction phase of the road. During the vehicle’s movement in the curve, their influence is shown through the critical slide velocity. This critical velocity is defined from the influence of the centrifugal force. For smaller values under critical velocity, this influence is expressed through the safety of the movement or the comfort of the …

Negative Impacts (Sbs) In Residential Buildings Case Studies From Kosovo, Muhamet Ahmeti, Mimoza Sylejmani

UBT International Conference

This paper presents the negative impacts on residential buildings in Kosovo, - as well as the main factors of the occurrence of sick building syndrome (SBS) in residential buildings in the case of Kosovo. It also examines the impact of different materials on this phenomenon and how many constructions in Kosovo are protected from this phenomenon.

For the assessment of the impact of materials on health and the environment, it is necessary to consider all the phases. Starting from the phase of construction, selection of materials, application from the beginning of the use of the building, including all the materials …

The Effect Of Particles Pm10 And Pm2.5 In Dust Emission Of Urban Infrastructure From Thermal Power Plant Technology Kosovo, Afrim Syla

UBT International Conference

Airborne particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters less than 10 microns (referred to as PM10) is one of the six criteria pollutants used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as indicator of air quality. During the last decade, the health effects of urban aerosols have become a major concern for the society.

The main environmental problems in Kosovo include all issues related to water supply and sanitation system, air quality, solid waste management and urban infrastructure. The major problem remains high pollutions, energy losses and low collection efficiency. The awareness of environmental issues among the general public is poor. Air quality …

Seismic Actions Induced By Cladding Panels On Precast Concrete Frame Structures, Bruno Del Lago, Francesco Foti, Luca Martinelli

UBT International Conference

The strong earthquakes occurred in Southern Europe in the last decade pointed out a poor seismic performance of the connection system of the cladding of precast industrial structures. The cladding of these buildings usually consists of sandwich concrete panels of remarkable mass, connected to the frame structure with mechanical devices. The estimation of the out-of-plane seismic action on these connections is a key step for their correct proportioning. However, the formulation currently provided in the Eurocode 8 for the estimation of the seismic action on non-structural elements was calibrated with different objectives. Furthermore, given there is no in-plane structure-panel interaction, …

Capacity Design For R/C Structures According To En 1998-1:2004, Xhemshir Mulliqi

UBT International Conference

Capacity Design is a design process in which it is decided which objects within a structural system will be permitted to yield (ductile components) and which objects will remain elastic (brittle components). Material nonlinearity need only be modeled for ductile components, while components which will not yield need only consider elastic stiffness properties. In this design philosophy the capacity design approach that is currently used in practice demands strong column/weak beam frames or wall equivalent dual frames, with beam sway mechanisms, trying to involve plastic hinging at all beam ends.This paper aims to present Capacity design procedure for reinforced concrete …

P.M. 2.5 And Air Pollution In Prishtina, Rushiti Bardh, Futko Annea, Zeka Blin, Musliu Afete

UBT International Conference

High concentration of fine particles, the primary concern of worsening air pollution in Prishtina is believed to be fast paced economic and infrastructural growth in the capital of Kosova. This study is mainly focused on measuring the fluctuations of one constituent of air pollution, P.M. 2.5 (which are particles ranging from 2.5 to 10 micro-meters suspended into the environment). The measurements were done in Prishtina, mainly in the parts more frequented by people. Exposed to mixed combustion emission from roads with traffic, construction areas, and/or burning trash are a case of peculiar concern to people near those places. However, due …

Optimal Design Of Grillage Structures With Steel Crossed Beams Using Genetic Algorithms, Ersilio Tushaj, Niko Lako, Fatjon Saliu

UBT International Conference

The optimal problem in the structural design is an important issue in the engineering design. Various authors have analyzed the optimization of steel structures using algorithmic approaches. These techniques are generally grouped in deterministic or meta-heuristic techniques. From the introduction of structural optimization in the 1960’ up to now, various methods have been proposed. A genetic algorithm, is built and applied in this study using MatLab soft R2017a to a crossed beams system. The structural analysis is done with the direct stiffness method with constraints verification based on EuroCode 3:2005 criteria. Results are reported in the study.

Beam- Column Joints For R/C Structures According To En 1998-1:2004, Xhemshir Mulliqi

UBT International Conference

Joints are crucial zones for the transfer internal forces effectively between the connecting elements like beams and columns .The behaviour of reinforced concrete moment resisting frame structures in recent earthquakes all over the world has highlighted the consequences of poor performance of beam column joints. The basic requirement of design is that the joint must be stronger than the adjoining hinging members, usually the beams or columns. This paper aims to present design approach for Beam- Column joints for reinforced concrete (R/C) structures according to the EN 1998-1:2004.

The Effect Of Elevated Temperature On The Lightweight Concrete Containing Waste Pet Aggregate, Semiha Akçaözoğlu

UBT International Conference

In this study, the effect of waste PET as lightweight aggregate (WPLA) replacement with conventional aggregate on the some physical and mechanical properties and residual compressive strength of concrete was investigated. For this purpose, five different mixtures were prepared (the reference mixture and four WPLA mixtures including 30%, 40%, 50% and 60% waste PET aggregate by volume). The fresh and dry unit weights, compressive strengths, flexural-tensile strengths, water absorption and porosity ratios of the mixtures were measured. In addition the specimens exposed to elevated temperatures at 150, 300 and 450 °C and the residual compressive strengths were measured. Test results …

The Effect Of Fine Material Amount On Optimum Water Content Of Roller Compacted Concrete, Kubilay Akçaözoğlu, Bedrettin Menemencioğlu

UBT International Conference

In this study the effect of fine material amount on the optimum water content of roller compacted concrete (RCC) was investigated. The fine aggregate was replaced with calcite which maximum particle size was 63 μ, in amount of 0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 10% and 14% by weight of total aggregate. Six different mixtures were prepared in the study. The optimum water contents of the mixtures were determined by using modified proctor test. Optimum water content, maximum dry unit weight and maximum fresh unit weight of produced specimens were measured. Optimum water content of specimens decreased depending on increasing fine aggregate …

Application Of Surface Treatments To Improve Fuel Efficiency Of Internal Combustion Engines, Amirabbas Akbarzadeh

LSU Master's Theses

To improve the tribological performance of contacting surfaces, different surface modification methods can be employed. Surface texturing and surface coating are examples of viable techniques developed for this purpose. Surface texturing involves creating micropatterns on the contacting surfaces while surface coating requires depositing a thin layer of a suitable material on the surface(s) to improve the component’s friction and wear characteristics. The performance of textured surfaces is affected by the geometric characteristic of textures.When dealing with surface coating parameters, the parameters of interests are the type of coating materials and their thicknesses.

The current study aims to experimentally study the …

Seismic Performance Of Hollow-Core Composite Columns Under Cyclic Loading, Mohanad M. Abdulazeez, Mohamed Elgawady

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper experimentally investigates the seismic behavior of a large-scale, hollow-core, fiber-reinforced, polymerconcrete- steel HC-FCS column under cyclic loading. The typical precast HC-FCS member consists of a concrete wall sandwiched between an outer fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) tube and an inner steel tube. The FRP tube provides continuous confinement for the concrete wall, along the height of the column. The column is inserted into the footing and temporarily supported; then, the footing is cast in place around the column. The seismic performance of the precast HC-FCS columns was assessed and compared with previous experimental work. The compared column had the same …

Sustainability Of Community-Managed Rural Water Supply Systems In Amazonas, Peru: Assessing Monitoring Tools And External Support Provision, Jacob E. Mangum

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Globally, there is still a large number of people without access to safe drinking water; a known health risk. In rural areas of countries like Peru, when potable water systems are built the responsibility for maintaining these systems is given to volunteer water committees. Despite its prevalence as a management model, there is a consensus that community management alone cannot ensure sustainable water service. Therefore, the overall goal of this research is to assess the sustainability of community-managed water systems in rural areas of the department of Amazonas, Peru. Specifically, this research examines two mechanisms that have been shown to …

Evaluation Of Five Dry Particle Deposition Parameterizations For Incorporation Into Atmospheric Transport Models, Tanvir Khan, Judith Perlinger

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Despite considerable effort to develop mechanistic dry particle deposition parameterizations for atmospheric transport models, current knowledge has been inadequate to propose quantitative measures of the relative performance of available parameterizations. In this study, we evaluated the performance of five dry particle deposition parameterizations developed by Zhang et al. (2001) ("Z01"), Petroff and Zhang (2010) ("PZ10"), Kouznetsov and Sofiev (2012) ("KS12"), Zhang and He (2014) ("ZH14"), and Zhang and Shao (2014) ("ZS14"), respectively. The evaluation was performed in three dimensions: model ability to reproduce observed deposition velocities, Vd (accuracy); the influence of imprecision in input parameter values on the modeled Vd …

Spatial And Temporal Variation In Precipitation In Togo, Koffi Djaman, Vivek Sharma, Daran Rudnick, Komlan Koudahe, Suat Irkmak, Kokou Adambounou Amouzou, Jean Mianikpo Sogbedji

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Precipitation is one of the important variables in hydrological cycle and has important application in both irrigated and rainfed agricultural crop production. Better understanding of spatio-temporal variability of precipitation across Togo is important and useful for water users and most agricultural activities. Thus, the objective this study was to analyze the spatial and temporal variation in monthly and annual precipitation across Togo for the period of 1961-2001. Monthly precipitation data was provided by the national direction of meteorology. The performed analysis revealed a decline in annual total precipitation across almost all agro-ecological zones in Togo with the Maritime Region revealed …

Observed Drought Indices Show Increasing Divergence Across Europe, James H. Stagge, Daniel G. Kingston, Lena M. Tallaksen, David M. Hannah

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Recent severe European droughts raise the vital question: are we already experiencing measurable changes in drought likelihood that agree with climate change projections? The plethora of drought definitions compounds this question, requiring instead that we ask: how have various types of drought changed, how do these changes compare with climate projections, and what are the causes of observed differences? To our knowledge, this study is the first to reveal a regional divergence in drought likelihood as measured by the two most prominent meteorological drought indices: the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) across Europe over the …

Advisory Bike Lanes In North America, Michael Williams

PSU Transportation Seminars

Despite being used successfully for decades in Europe, Advisory Bike Lanes are an emerging facility type in North America and can be an effective tool for communities wishing to provide bicycle lanes on streets that are otherwise too narrow to accommodate them. This talk will introduce the concept and operation of advisory bike lanes and look at some lessons learned from the early installations of this facility in the U.S. and Canada.

An Analysis Of The Optimal Mix Of Global Energy Resources And The Potential Need For Geoengineering Using The Ceagom Model, John George Anasis, M. A. K. Khalil, George G. Lendaris, Christopher L. Butenhoff, Randall Bluffstone

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

Humanity faces tremendous challenges as a result of anthropogenic climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions. The mix of resources deployed in order to meet the energy needs of a growing global population is key to addressing the climate change issue. The goal of this research is to examine the optimal mix of energy resources that should be deployed to meet a forecast global energy demand while still meeting desired climate targets. The research includes the unique feature of examining the role that geoengineering can play in this optimization. The results show that some form of geoengineering is likely to …

Unmanned Aerial Systems For Monitoring Trace Tropospheric Gases, Travis J. Schuyler, Marcelo I. Guzman

Chemistry Faculty Publications

The emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) has changed the composition of the atmosphere during the Anthropocene. Accurately documenting the sources and magnitude of GHGs emission is an important undertaking for discriminating the contributions of different processes to radiative forcing. Currently there is no mobile platform that is able to quantify trace gases at altitudes(UASs) can be deployed on-site in minutes and can support the payloads necessary to quantify trace gases. Therefore, current efforts combine the use of UASs available on the civilian market with inexpensively designed analytical systems for monitoring atmospheric trace gases. In this context, this perspective introduces the …

All-Dielectric Metamaterials: Irrelevance Of Negative Refraction To Overlapped Mie Resonances, Navid Gandji, George Semouchkin, Elena Semouchkina

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

All-dielectric metamaterials comprised of identical resonators draw a lot of attention as low-loss media providing for negative refraction, which is commonly attributed to the double negativity of effective material parameters caused by overlapping of Mie resonances. We study dispersion diagrams of such metamaterials composed of dielectric rod arrays and show that bandwidths of positive and negative refraction and its type are irrelevant to the negativity of effective parameters; instead, they are unambiguously defined by the shape and the location of the second transmission branch in dispersion diagrams and thus can be controlled by the lattice constants.

Best Management Practices: A Community-Based Approach To Construction And Installation, Nathanael J. La Breche

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

The Wabash River Enhancement Corporation (WREC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving both the health of the Wabash River and the surrounding terrestrial areas. In an effort to improve water quality, their urban cost-share program focuses on supporting green projects within a critical region surrounding the Great Bend of the Wabash River. In this essay, a Purdue student describes his experience as leader of a six-member group who worked with WREC to locate a suitable site within this critical area and implement a green project. They selected the Lighthouse Baptist Church, located in Lafayette, Indiana, since it was experiencing …

Constructing Slow Sand Filters: Engineering Students’ Experiences In San José De Playón, Bolívar, Colombia, Sol Park, Sanyukta Gokhale, Kaylyn Colinco

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

Sol Park, Sanyukta Gokhale, and Kaylyn Colinco were members of a Global Design Team (GDT) involved in providing innovative solutions to drinking water treatment in rural areas of developing countries. The immediate goal of the GDT in May 2016 was to deliver large slow sand filters (SSFs) to a rural school in Colombia. The experience placed the students in a small town 80 km (~50 miles) south of Cartagena, Colombia, called San José de Playón. The town pumps water from the Arroyo Reservoir, which is then consumed by the citizens and students at the local school (the only one in …

Water Supply In Developing Countries: Student Experiences In The Dominican Republic, Albert Alwang, Margaret Busse, Audrey Caprio, Marieke Fenton, Jason Hawes, Andrew Kanach, Autumn Mcelfresh-Sutton

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

In 2010, the United Nations established access to safe drinking water as a basic human right; however, many areas around the globe still lack access. The interdisciplinary service-learning course “Water Supply in Developing Countries” was established at Purdue in 2012 to address the complex issue of water insecurity around the world. Over the past five years, the course has produced teams involving students from nursing, engineering, agricultural economics, biology, and food science working together to develop sustainable, community-scale drinking water treatment systems. In partnership with Aqua Clara International, the student team in 2017 established a drinking water treatment system at …

Time Series Uav Image-Based Point Clouds For Landslide Progression Evaluation Applications, Abdulla Al-Rawabdeh, Adel Moussa, Marzieh Foroutan, Naser El-Sheimy, Ayman Habib

Lyles School of Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Landslides are major and constantly changing threats to urban landscapes and infrastructure. It is essential to detect and capture landslide changes regularly. Traditional methods for monitoring landslides are time-consuming, costly, dangerous, and the quality and quantity of the data is sometimes unable to meet the necessary requirements of geotechnical projects. This motivates the development of more automatic and efficient remote sensing approaches for landslide progression evaluation. Automatic change detection involving low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle image-based point clouds, although proven, is relatively unexplored, and little research has been done in terms of accounting for volumetric changes. In this study, a methodology …

Optimizing Stabilized Fluorogypsum To Decrease Dissolution Potential In Aquatic Environments For Construction Of Artificial Reefs, Charles Davis Lofton

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The use of limestone as coastal protection devices and as an oyster cultch material has placed a substantial economic burden on the State of Louisiana. Limestone is not locally available in the State of Louisiana and must be transported from out of state which significantly increases the cost of utilizing the material. Placement of limestone on the unconsolidated soils in coastal Louisiana result in significant losses to sinking of the material due to the density of limestone. Therefore, locally available materials with a lower density compared to limestone are needed to reduce the economic burden of protecting and enhancing coastlines. …

Safety Effectiveness Of Pedestrian Crossing Treatments, Christopher Monsere

PSU Transportation Seminars

Over the last decade, the transportation agencies in Oregon have systematically enhanced many pedestrian crossings at mid-block locations with Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFBs), Flashing Yellow Beacons (Flash), and high visibility crosswalk markings (Hi-Vis). Enhancements often included the installation of refuge medians. This study explored the safety performance of these enhanced crossings, categorized by enhancement type. Data were collected on 191 crossings that included installation year, geometric features, surrounding land use, traffic volumes, and the number of crashes. Because pedestrian volume at the locations was unavailable, a pedestrian activity level variable was developed. Target crashes for analysis were identified as …