Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

An Investigation Into Isogeometric Blended Shells, David Scott Willoughby

Theses and Dissertations

Improvements to isogeometric blended shells are introduced which blend traditional Reissner-Mindlin shells, and Kirchhoff-Love shells, with an exact interpolation of the shell director increment. A gradient extraction operator is introduced which allows derivatives of basis functions to be exactly expressed as a linear combination of the basis functions themselves. Several benchmarks are investigated and the new blended shell is compared with different shell elements in ABAQUS and NASTRAN. In addition, the effect of different quadrature schemes is included in the comparisons. The new isogeometric blended shell performs comparably in some benchmarks, and even outperforms commercial shell finite elements in some …

Eulerian-Based Virtual Visual Sensors To Measure Dynamic Displacements Of Structures, Ali Shariati, Thomas Schumacher

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Vibration measurements provide useful information about a structural system's dynamic characteristics and are used in many fields of science and engineering. Here, we present an alternative noncontact approach to measure dynamic displacements of structural systems using digital videos. The concept is that intensity measured at a pixel with a fixed (or Eulerian) coordinate in a digital video can be regarded as a virtual visual sensor. The pixels in the vicinity of the boundary of a vibrating structural element contain useful frequency information, which we have been able to demonstrate in earlier studies. Our ultimate goal, however, is to be able …

Effects Of Nitrogen And Phosphorus Fertilizer And Topsoil Amendment On Native Plant Cover In Roadside Revegetation Projects, Heidi L. Hillhouse, Walter H. Schacht, Jonathan M. Soper, Carol E. Wienhold

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Establishing vegetation on roadsides following construction can be challenging, especially for relatively slow growing native species. Topsoil is generally removed during construction, and the surface soil following construction (“cut-slope soils”) is often compacted and low in nutrients, providing poor growing conditions for vegetation. Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) protocols have historically called for nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilization when planting roadside vegetation following construction, but these recommendations were developed for cool-season grass plantings and most current plantings use slower-establishing, native warmseason grasses that may benefit less than expected from current planting protocols. We evaluated the effects of nitrogen and …

An Abbreviated Leap: The Geopolitical And Geoeconomic Significance Of The China – Pakistan Economic Corridor To The New Silk Road, Emma Nichols

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The objective of this analysis is to reveal the geopolitical and geoeconomic significance of the China – Pakistan Economic Corridor of the Belt and Road Initiative to its major stakeholders; Pakistan and China. In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled one of the most ambitious international infrastructure plans in modern history. The plan, in its earliest stages, is currently underway with its first portion, the China – Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Through careful preliminary analysis of the greater Belt and Road Initiative, the China – Pakistan Economic Corridor, and history of Sino-Pak relations, the motivations of the collaborating nations are …

The Professional Constructor, Full Issue, Volume 42, Number 02

The Professional Constructor

No abstract provided.

Increased Span Length For The Mgs Long-Span Guardrail System Part Iii: Failure Analysis, Sagheer A. Ranjha, Robert W. Bielenberg, John D. Reid, Ronald K. Faller

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

The objective of this research study was to review and analyze the system failure observed during crash testing of an increased span length for the MGS long-span guardrail system in test no. MGSLS-2. Test no. MGSLS-2 was a full-scale crash test conducted on the MGS long-span guardrail with a span length of 311⁄4 ft (9.5 m). This test utilized universal breakaway steel posts (UBSPs) adjacent to the long span in lieu of the controlled release terminal (CRT) wood posts used in previous long span systems.

An engineering analysis was undertaken to review the downstream end anchorage failure observed in test …

The Shifting Discourse On Third Places: Ideological Implications, Mark N. Wexler, Judy Oberlander

Journal of Ideology

Within the social sciences, literature on third places attempts to assist in the construction of a social concept of “place”. This notion of a place is an idealization of the bridging space with home and family on one side, and work with the rule-based impersonality of life in mass society, on the other. Like the idea of work-life balance—as seen through the vocabulary of placemaking—third places provide people with a place in which there is a balance between the emotive attachments of home and family and the challenge striving for merit and reward in the marketplace. To date, third places …

Lab-On-Sensor For Structural Behavior Monitoring: Theory And Applications, Genda Chen

INSPIRE Archived Webinars

There are over 600,000 bridges in the U.S. National Bridge Inventory (NBI). Nearly 50% of them rapidly approach their design life and deteriorate at an alarming rate, particularly under an increasing volume of overweight trucks. Visual inspection as the current practice in bridge management is labor intensive and subjective, resulting in inconsistent and less reliable element ratings. Lab-on-sensor technologies can provide supplemental mission-critical data to the visual inspection for both qualitative and quantitative evaluations of structural conditions, and thus critical decision-making of cost-effective strategies in bridge preservation.

In this presentation, the design and operation characteristics of highway bridges are first …

A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment Between A Metered Dose Inhaler And Electric Nebulizer, Brandon Goulet, Lars E. Olson, Brooke K. Mayer

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Life cycle assessment (LCA) evaluates the environmental impact of a product based on the materials and processes used to manufacture the item as well as the item’s use and disposal. The objective of this LCA was to evaluate and compare the environmental impact of a metered dose inhaler, specifically the Proventil® HFA inhaler (Merk & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA), and an electric nebulizer, specifically the DeVilbiss Pulmo-Aide® nebulizer (DeVilbiss, Port Washington, NY, USA). GaBi LCA software was used to model the global warming potential (GWP) of each product by using substantiated data and well-justified assumptions for the components, manufacturing, …

Boom And Bust Carbon-Nitrogen Dynamics During Reforestation, Anthony J. Parolari, Megan L. Mobley, Allan R. Bacon, Gabriel Katul, Daniel Deb. Richter, Amilcare Porporato

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Legacies of historical land use strongly shape contemporary ecosystem dynamics. In old-field secondary forests, tree growth embodies a legacy of soil changes affected by previous cultivation. Three patterns of biomass accumulation during reforestation have been hypothesized previously, including monotonic to steady state, non-monotonic with a single peak then decay to steady state, and multiple oscillations around the steady state. In this paper, the conditions leading to the emergence of these patterns is analyzed. Using observations and models, we demonstrate that divergent reforestation patterns can be explained by contrasting time-scales in ecosystem carbon-nitrogen cycles that are influenced by land use legacies. …

Measuring Rheological Properties Of Cement Pastes: Most Common Techniques, Procedures And Challenges, Dimitri Feys, Rolands Cepuritis, Stefan Jacobsen, Karel Lesage, Egor Secrieru, Ammar Yahia

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Science of Rheology is Increasingly Used to Describe the Properties of Fresh Cement Paste. Compared to Standard Workability Tests, Rheological Properties Allow for More Fundamental Investigation, More Precise Phenomenological Description of Flow Properties and Serve as Input for Numerical Simulations. Standard Commercially Available Rheometers Are Typically Used to Perform Those Measurements. However, the Results of the Measurement Depend on the Geometry, Testing Procedure and a Number of Potential Artefacts. This Technical Letter Describes the Most Common Techniques and Procedures Used to Assess the Rheological Properties of Cement Paste, as Well as Challenges during Measurements and Actions to Counter These …

Examining Accident Reports Involving Autonomous Vehicles In California, Francesca Favaro, Nazanin Nader, Sky Eurich, Michelle Tripp, Naresh Varadaraju

Faculty Publications

Autonomous Vehicle technology is quickly expanding its market and has found in Silicon Valley, California, a strong foothold for preliminary testing on public roads. In an effort to promote safety and transparency to consumers, the California Department of Motor Vehicles has mandated that reports of accidents involving autonomous vehicles be drafted and made available to the public. The present work shows an in-depth analysis of the accident reports filed by different manufacturers that are testing autonomous vehicles in California (testing data from September 2014 to March 2017). The data provides important information on autonomous vehicles accidents’ dynamics, related to the …

Cyclic Compression Behavior Of Concrete-Filled Hybrid Large Rupture Strain Frp Tube, Monika Nain, Mohanad M. Abdulazeez, Mohamed Elgawady

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper experimentally investigates the behavior of concrete-filled-fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) cylinders under cyclic axial compression. The FRP used in this study were either large rupture strain FRP (LRS-FRP) or hybrid LRS-FRP and conventional glass FRP (GFRP). LRS-FRP are manufactured out of polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) obtained from recycled plastics. Hence, they are much cheaper and environment-friendly than conventional GFRP or carbon FRP (CFRP). LRS-FRPs has high tensile rupture strain (usually greater than 5%) compared to 1-2% for GFRP and CFRP. This study presents the results of 4 specimens with different confinement ratios to investigate the behavior of …

Torsional Behavior Of Hollow-Core Frp-Concrete-Steel Bridge Columns, Sujith Anumolu, Omar I. Abdelkarim, Mohanad M. Abdulazeez, Ahmed Gheni, Mohamed Elgawady

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents the behavior of hollow-core fiber reinforced polymer-concrete-steel (HC-FCS) column under pure torsion loading with constant axial load. The HCFCS consists of outer FRP tube and inner steel tube with concrete shell sandwiched between the two tubes. The FRP tube was stopped at the surface of the footing and provided confinement to the concrete shell from outer direction. The steel tube was embedded into the footing to a length of 1.8 times to the diameter of the steel tube. The longitudinal and transversal reinforcements of the column were provided by the steel tube only. A large-scale HC-FCS column …

Nonlinear Analysis Of Hollow-Core Composite Building Columns, Mohanad M. Abdulazeez, Mohamed Elgawady

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper numerically investigates the behavior of hollow-core fiber-reinforced polymer-concrete-steel (HC-FCS) building columns under combined axial compression and flexural loadings. The HC-FCS column for buildings consists of an outer circular fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) tube, an inner square steel tube, and a concrete wall between them. A three-dimensional numerical model has been developed using LS_DYNA software for modeling of large scale HC-FCS columns. The nonlinear FE models were designed and validated against experimental results gathered from HC-FCS columns tested under cyclic lateral loading. The FE results were in decent agreement with the experimental backbone curves. These models subsequently were used to …

Cyberinfrastructure For Advancing Hydrologic Knowledge Through Collaborative Integration Of Data Science, Modeling And Analysis, David Tarboton

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Drones For Commercial Last-Mile Deliveries: A Discussion Of Logistical, Environmental, And Economic Trade-Offs, Miguel Figliozzi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

There are no studies that model the potential effectiveness of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones to reduce CO₂e lifecycle (including both utilization and vehicle phase) emissions when compared to conventional diesel vans, electric trucks, electric vans, and tricycles. This study presents a novel analysis of lifecycle UAV and ground commercial vehicles CO₂e emissions.

Characterization Of Jet Fuel Combustion Emissions During A C-130 Aeromedical Evacuation Engines Running Onload, Michelle L. Page

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to characterize jet fuel combustion emissions (JFCE) in an occupational setting. Prior research demonstrated that aircraft emit hazardous species, especially at engine start-up and ground idle. Complaints of eye, nose, and throat irritation from occupational exposures near aircraft exist. In this study JFCE were tested during an aeromedical evacuation engines running patient onload (ERO) on a C-130 Hercules at the 179^th Airlift Wing, Mansfield-Lahm Air National Guard. Ultrafine particles, VOC, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide (CO), sulfuric acid, and metals were sampled simultaneously in approximate crew and patient breathing zones. Testing methods were portable condensation …

Dynamics Of Chemical Degradation In Water Using Photocatalytic Reactions In An Ultraviolet Light Emitting Diode Reactor, John E. Stubbs

Theses and Dissertations

This work examined ultraviolet (UV) light emitting diodes (LED) and hydrogen peroxide in an advanced oxidation process in support of a USAF installation net zero water initiative. A UV LED reactor was used for degradation of soluble organic chemicals. There were linear relationships between input drive current, optical output power, and first order degradation rate constants. When drive current was varied, first order degradation rates depended on chemical identities and the drive current. When molar peroxide ratios were varied, kinetic profiles revealed peroxide-limited or radical-scavenged phenomena. Molar absorptivity helped explain the complexity of chemical removal profiles. Degradation kinetics were used …

Spatial Scale Gap Filling Using An Unmanned Aerial System: A Statistical Downscaling Method For Applications In Precision Agriculture, Leila Hassan-Esfahani, Ardeshir M. Ebtehaj, Alfonso F. Torres-Rua, Mac Mckee

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Applications of satellite-borne observations in precision agriculture (PA) are often limited due to the coarse spatial resolution of satellite imagery. This paper uses high-resolution airborne observations to increase the spatial resolution of satellite data for related applications in PA. A new variational downscaling scheme is presented that uses coincident aerial imagery products from “AggieAir”, an unmanned aerial system, to increase the spatial resolution of Landsat satellite data. This approach is primarily tested for downscaling individual band Landsat images that can be used to derive normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and surface soil moisture (SSM). Quantitative and qualitative results demonstrate promising …

Water Resources Adaptation To Climate And Demand Change In The Potomac River, James H. Stagge, Glenn E. Moglen

Publications

The effects of climate change are increasingly considered in conjunction with changes in water demand and reservoir sedimentation in forecasts of water supply vulnerability. Here, the relative effects of these factors are evaluated for the Washington, DC metropolitan area water supply for the near (2010 to 2039), intermediate (2040-2069), and distant future (2070 to 2099) by repeated water resources model simulations. This system poses water management challenges due to long water delivery travel times that increase uncertainty, multiple water jurisdictions that constrain potential decisions, and future scenarios that simultaneously increase demand and decrease water supply during the critical summer period. …

Increasing Atmospheric Humidity And Co2 Concentration Alleviate Forest Mortality Risk, Yanlan Liu, Anthony J. Parolari, Mukesh Kumar, Chang-Wei Huang, Gabriel Katul, Amilcare Porporato

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Climate-induced forest mortality is being increasingly observed throughout the globe. Alarmingly, it is expected to exacerbate under climate change due to shifting precipitation patterns and rising air temperature. However, the impact of concomitant changes in atmospheric humidity and CO₂ concentration through their influence on stomatal kinetics remains a subject of debate and inquiry. By using a dynamic soil–plant–atmosphere model, mortality risks associated with hydraulic failure and stomatal closure for 13 temperate and tropical forest biomes across the globe are analyzed. The mortality risk is evaluated in response to both individual and combined changes in precipitation amounts and their seasonal …

Cross-Correlation-Based Structural System Identification Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles., Hyungchul Yoon, Vedhus Hoskere, Jong-Woong Park, Billie F. Spencer

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Computer vision techniques have been employed to characterize dynamic properties of structures, as well as to capture structural motion for system identification purposes. All of these methods leverage image-processing techniques using a stationary camera. This requirement makes finding an effective location for camera installation difficult, because civil infrastructure (i.e., bridges, buildings, etc.) are often difficult to access, being constructed over rivers, roads, or other obstacles. This paper seeks to use video from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to address this problem. As opposed to the traditional way of using stationary cameras, the use of UAVs brings the issue of the camera …

Mechanical And Economical Impacts Of Adding Polymers Into Asphalt Mixtures, Mena Souliman, Waleed Zeiada, Lubinda Walubita

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Load associated fatigue cracking is one of the major distress types occurring in flexible pavements. Flexural bending beam fatigue laboratory test has been used for several decades and is considered an integral part of the Superpave advanced characterization procedure. One of the most significant solutions to sustain the fatigue life for an asphaltic mixture is to add sustainable materials such as polymers to the asphalt mixture. A laboratory testing program was performed on two gap-graded mixtures: unmodified and polymer-modified asphalt mixtures. Strain controlled fatigue tests were conducted according to the AASHTO T321 procedure. The results from the beam fatigue tests …

Design And Planned Obsolescence. Theories And Approaches For Designing Enabling Technologies, Matteo Zallio, Damon Berry

Articles

We are currently living in a decade where smart objects and Internet of Things (IoT)-based devices are becoming part of daily life in different contexts. This research seeks to investigate and verify, by using a formal literature review methodology, the most visible aspects of technological development, within the Industry 4.0 and IoT scenario, in relation to the theories of the so called “Planned Obsolescence”.

This study covers a defined number of works on Design theories and practices on how to face the issue of built-in obsolescence of devices in the era of the Connected Devices. The majority of the works …

2017 Fall Engr333 Project Assignment, Matthew K. Heun

ENGR 333

The Fall 2017 ENGR333 project focused on campus energy cost savings.

I asked the students two questions:

• Section A: What would it take for Calvin to save $75k/year on natural gas costs?
• Section B: What would it take for Calvin to save $150k/year on energy costs (mostly electricity) using a new on-site co-gen plant?

Customer

The customer for this project was Phil Beezhold, Director of Calvin’s Physical Plant.

Optimal Cultivation Pattern To Increase Revenue And Reduce Water Use: Application Of Linear Programming To Arjan Plain In Fars Province, Amin Daghighi, Ali Nahvi, Ungtae Kim

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Because the available water resources of the Arjan plain region in Iran do not fully meet the watering requirements for plants in farmlands, the crops suffer from water stress, a situation that causes them to wilt. The aim of this study is to develop a water resources planning model that helps decision-makers determine an appropriate cultivation pattern, optimize the exploitation from surface water resources, and specify the method of allocating water across different farm crops to minimize the detrimental effects of water shortage. Through investigating various models of water resources planning and properties along with the governing conditions for each …

Physical Water Scarcity Metrics For Monitoring Progress Towards Sdg Target 6.4: An Evaluation Of Indicator 6.4.2 “Level Of Water Stress”, D. Vanhama, A. Y. Hoekstra, Y. Wada, F. Bouraoui, A. De Roo, Mesfin Mekonnen, W. J. Van De Bund, O. Batelaan, P. Pavelic, W. G.M. Bastiaanssen, M. Kummu, J. Rockström, J. Liu, B. Bisselink, P. Ronco, A. Pistocchi, G. Bidoglio

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Target 6.4 of the recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) dealswith the reduction ofwater scarcity. To monitor progress towards this target, two indicators are used: Indicator 6.4.1 measuring water use efficiency and 6.4.2 measuring the level of water stress (WS). This paper aims to identify whether the currently proposed indicator 6.4.2 considers the different elements that need to be accounted for in a WS indicator.WS indicators compare water use with water availability.We identify seven essential elements: 1) both gross and net water abstraction (or withdrawal) provide important information to understand WS; 2) WS indicators need to incorporate environmental flow requirements …

Revealing Casual Pathways To Sustainable Water Service Delivering Using Fsqca, Kate E. Gasparro, Jeffrey P. Walters

Faculty Publications - Biomedical, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering

This study aimed to build on theory and practice regarding the combinations of conditions that influence water service sustainability when external partners are involved. The study investigates 26 well projects that have been implemented in developing countries with the assistance of Engineers Without Borders-USA (EWB-USA). Using past literature on sustainable water service delivery in developing communities, emergent coding techniques with project documents, and surveys with EWB-USA team members, this study identifies a set of project conditions to conduct fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). Findings show that the presence of a water committee cannot alone account for project sustainability. Additional conditions, …

Truck Routing Issues, Kenneth R. Agent

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Commercial vehicle drivers selecting inappropriate routes where the handling characteristics (e.g., off-tracking) and dimensions of their trucks are not consistent with a roadway’s cross section and geometrics can damage the vehicle, harm adjacent property, or result in crashes. Analysis of crashes that involve the use of inappropriate routes indicate a significant number are caused by drivers receiving faulty directions from in-truck GPS units or adhering to incorrect directions provided by their companies. The Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) investigated strategies to ensure truck drivers are given correct directions when traveling on Kentucky roadways. As part of this effort, this report reviews …