Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Water, Energy, And Carbon Footprints Of Bioethanol From The U.S. And Brazil, Mesfin Mekonnen, Thiago L. Romanelli, Chittaranjan Ray, Arjen Y. Hoekstra, Adam Liska, Christopher M. U. Neale

Adam Liska Papers

Driven by biofuel policies, which aim to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increase domestic energy supply, global production and consumption of bioethanol have doubled between 2007 and 2016, with rapid growth in corn-based bioethanol in the U.S. and sugar cane-based bioethanol in Brazil. Advances in crop yields, energy use efficiency in fertilizer production, biomass-to-ethanol conversion rates, and energy efficiency in ethanol production have improved the energy balance and GHG emission reduction potential of bioethanol. In the current study, the water, energy, and carbon footprints of bioethanol from corn in the U.S. and sugar cane in Brazil were assessed. The …

Trend Analysis Of Las Vegas Land Cover And Temperature Using Remote Sensing, Haroon Stephen

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

The Las Vegas urban area expanded rapidly during the last two decades. In order to understand the impacts on the environment, it is imperative that the rate and type of urban expansion is determined. Remote sensing is an efficient and effective way to study spatial change in urban areas and Spectral Mixture Analysis (SMA) is a valuable technique to retrieve subpixel landcover information from remote sensing images. In this research, urban growth trends in Las Vegas are studied over the 1990 to 2010 period using images from Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) and National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP). The SMA …

Enhancement Of Rainfall-Triggered Shallow Landslide Hazard Assessment At Regional And Site Scales Using Remote Sensing And Slope Stability Analysis Coupled With Infiltration Modeling, Thilanki Maneesha Dahigamuwa Rajaguru Mudiyanselage

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Landslides cause significant damage to property and human lives throughout the world. Rainfall is the most common triggering factor for the occurrence of landslides. This dissertation presents two novel methodologies for assessment of rainfall-triggered shallow landslide hazard. The first method focuses on using remotely sensed soil moisture and soil surface properties in developing a framework for real-time regional scale landslide hazard assessment while the second method is a deterministic approach to landslide hazard assessment of the specific sites identified during first assessment. In the latter approach, landslide inducing transient seepage in soil during rainfall and its effect on slope stability …

Wastewater In Context: Systems-Based Approaches To Improving Wastewater Infrastructure Transitions, Christine Prouty

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Coastal communities and ecosystems around the world are some of those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In particular, the wastewater treatment systems in these areas are on the forefront of the effects of increasing frequency, duration, and intensity associated with extreme weather events. As such, decision making about adopting new wastewater technologies or transitioning to an improved treatment portfolio is an important area of research for coastal communities because they are critically linked to the health of the nearby aquatic ecosystems (i.e. tourism, fishing, cultural heritage, climate protection).

The decision making process about technology adoption and transitions …

Sensor-Based Safety Performance Assessment Of Individual Construction Workers, Jeewoong Park, Yong K. Cho, Ali Khodabandelu

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Over the last decade, researchers have explored various technologies and methodologies to enhance worker safety at construction sites. The use of advanced sensing technologies mainly has focused on detecting and warning about safety issues by directly relying on the detection capabilities of these technologies. Until now, very little research has explored methods to quantitatively assess individual workers’ safety performance. For this, this study uses a tracking system to collect and use individuals’ location data in the proposed safety framework. A computational and analytical procedure/model was developed to quantify the safety performance of individual workers beyond detection and warning. The framework …

Investigation Of Acetaminophen And Caffeine Removal Using Manganese Oxides And Granular Activated Carbon In Column Experiments, Rachael E. Miera

Civil Engineering ETDs

This study was conducted to investigate the application of manganese dioxide (MnO_x(s)) and granular activated carbon (GAC) media for the removal of the acetaminophen and caffeine. Treatment of emerging micropollutants has become a concern due to their effects on environmental health. Manganese oxides can be a viable alternative for water treatment due to their abundance in the environment. Laboratory scale flow through column experiments were performed using different combinations of commercial MnO_x(s) and GAC to assess the removal of caffeine and acetaminophen, and the release of Mn due to the reductive dissolution of MnO_x(s). Results …

Toward Building Resilient, Sustainable, And Smart Infrastructure In The 21st Century, Aly Mousaad Aly

Faculty Publications

In recent years, as a result of significant climate change, stringent windstorms are becoming more frequent than before. Given the threat that windstorms bring to people and property, wind/structural engineering research is imperative to improve the resilience of existing and new infrastructure, for community safety and assets protection. The Windstorm Impact, Science and Engineering (WISE) research program at Louisiana State University (LSU) focuses on creating new knowledge applicable to the mitigation of existing and new infrastructure, to survive and perform optimally under natural hazards. To achieve our research goals, we address two imperious challenges: (i) characterization of realistic wind forces …

Axial Compressive Behavior Of Square Ice Filled Steel Tubular Stub Columns, Yanlei Wang, Guipeng Chen, Baolin Wan, Hao Lin

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Concrete has many limitations in the building construction in cold areas. However, there is abundant ice in those regions. Therefore, using ice as a substitute for concrete has been explored by researchers. Inspired by the idea of square concrete filled steel tube (CFT), a new column form termed square ice filled steel tubular (IFT) column is proposed in this study. It consists of a square outer steel tube with the inner space filled with ice. A total of eighteen stub columns were made and tested under axial compression, including three circular plain ice specimens, nine square IFT specimens and six …

Evaluation Of The Weak Constraint Data Assimilation Approach For Estimating Turbulent Heat Fluxes At Six Sites, Xinlei He, Tongren Xu, Sayed M. Bateni, C.M.U. Neale, Thomas Auligne, Shaomin Liu, Kaicun Wang, Kebiao Mao, Yunjun Yao

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

A number of studies have estimated turbulent heat fluxes by assimilating sequences of land surface temperature (LST) observations into the strong constraint-variational data assimilation (SC-VDA) approaches. The SC-VDA approaches do not account for the structural model errors and uncertainties in the micrometeorological variables. In contrast to the SC-VDA approaches, the WC-VDA approach (the so-called weak constraint-VDA) accounts for the effects of structural and model errors by adding a model error term. In this study, the WC-VDA approach is tested at six study sites with different climatic and vegetative conditions. Its performance is also compared with that of SC-VDA at the …

Climate Futures 1| Climate Futures, Design And The Just Transition, Schedule, Liberal Arts Division, Ncss Graduate Program

Climate Futures Symposia

Schedule of events distributed at the Symposium.

A Theoretical And Practical Analysis Of The Effect Of Drilling Fluid On Rebar Bond Strength, Kelly Costello

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Drilled shafts are large cylindrical cast-in-place concrete structural elements that can be favored due to cost-effectiveness. These elements however, require strict quality control during construction to ensure a stable excavation. Drilling fluid is often used in construction to attain this stability. Drilling fluid, or slurry, can be ground water or salt water, but is typically made from a mixture of water and mineral or polymer powder to form a viscous fluid slightly more dense than ground water. During concreting, the drilling fluid is displaced by the heavier concrete, which is tremie placed at the base of the excavation from the …

The Icarus Floating Membrane Photobioreactor For Microalgae Cultivation In Wastewater: Advancing Technology From Lab To Field Prototype, Melanie Pickett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The ICARUS membrane photobioreactor, conceptualized and preliminarily tested at the University of South Florida, provides a viable platform for algae cultivation using wastewater as a growth medium. Progression of the technology is tracked using NASA’s Technology Readiness Level scale, and is herein described. Through the work described in this manuscript, the technology has evolved from TRL 3 to TRL 5. Completing the suggested future work will readily move the technology to TRL 6 and beyond.

The first study investigated the co-location of algal cultivation with wastewater treatment. This coupling provides a steady source of water and nutrients for algal growth. …

Autonomous Vehicle Traffic Impact Scenario Analysis: Central New Mexico Case Study, Razieh Nadafianshahamabadi

Shared Knowledge Conference

Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) are on their way to becoming a significant part of our transportation systems and cities. Previous studies have mainly focused on how much AVs could improve traffic flow and reduce congestion or improve safety. Reducing congestion and the cost of travel time is also expected to increase travel demand, but by how much is not well understood. This study, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, uses an integrated travel demand and land-use modeling system to evaluate how AVs may affect congestion, travel demand and land use. Our modeling system considers how traffic patterns, travel demand and land use …

Sustainable And Equitable Financing For Pedestrian Infrastructure Maintenance, Alexis Corning Padilla

Shared Knowledge Conference

In many communities, pedestrian infrastructure is discontinuous, inaccessible to those with physical disabilities, and poorly maintained. Correcting these problems would be a first step in providing infrastructure to achieve the active travel and related transportation goals of many communities. One nearly universal challenge to maintaining sidewalks in a state of good repair and addressing environmental justice concerns is an adequate, sustainable and equitable source of funding. Municipal governments across the country maintain and repair their streets and roadways; however, most require residents to maintain and repair public sidewalks adjacent to their property. These policies are difficult to enforce and may …

Cementitious Sensors Exhibiting Stopbands In Acoustic Transmission Spectra, Shreya Vemuganti

Shared Knowledge Conference

Ultrasonic monitoring in cementitious materials is challenging due to the high degree of attenuation. In wellbore environments, monitoring becomes more challenging due to inaccessibility. Meta materials, also known as acoustic bandgap materials, exhibit an interesting feature of forbidding the propagation of elastic/sound waves and isolate vibration in a certain frequency band. Traditionally, acoustic bandgap materials are developed with inclusions such as tin, aluminum, gold, steel in a polymer matrix. In this study, we present the development of three-dimensional cementitious sensors capable of exhibiting stopbands in the acoustic transmission spectra using carbon nanotubes. Relatively wide stopbands were engineered using Floquet-Bloch periodic …

Biaxial Bending Of Cold-Formed Steel Storage Rack Uprights – Part I: Parametric Studies And Response, Nima Talebian, Benoit P. Gilbert, Cao Hung Pham, Romain Chariere, Hassan Karampour

CCFSS Proceedings of International Specialty Conference on Cold-Formed Steel Structures (1971 - 2018)

This paper first introduces an advanced finite element model to determine the biaxial bending capacity of cold-formed steel storage rack upright sections. The model is found to accurately predict published experimental results with an average predicted to experimental capacity ratio of 1.02. Second, the validated model is used to run parametric studies and analyse the biaxial response of slender, semi-compact and compact unperforated storage rack upright cross-sections. Analyses are run for local and distortional buckling failure modes only. Ten and four different cross-sectional shapes are analysed for local and distortional buckling, respectively, and nine biaxial bending configurations are considered per …

Sidelap And Structural Fastener Tests For Steel Deck Diaphragms, Y. Shi, S. Torabian, Benjamin W. Schafer, W. S. Easterling, M. R. Eatherton

CCFSS Proceedings of International Specialty Conference on Cold-Formed Steel Structures (1971 - 2018)

Steel deck diaphragm systems, which are commonly used for roof construction in steel-framed buildings, consist of many parts such as corrugated steel deck sheets, sidelap fasteners between adjacent sheets, structural fasteners from the sheets to the supporting beams or joists, chord elements, and collectors. Load-deformation behavior of a steel deck diaphragm system is typically dominated by sidelap and structural fastener limit states. To understand and accurately model the behavior of steel deck diaphragm systems, it is therefore necessary to characterize the behavior of the individual fasteners. The effect of local geometry and detailing at these fasteners such as how the …

The 2017 Aisi Cold-Formed Steel Design Manual, Joshua Buckholt, Helen Chen

CCFSS Proceedings of International Specialty Conference on Cold-Formed Steel Structures (1971 - 2018)

The 2017 edition of AISI D100, the Cold-Formed Steel Design Manual (Manual) has been published. Updates to the Manual include: alignment with AISI S100-16, the North-American Specification for the Design of Cold-Formed Steel Structural Members (NA Specification); several new and varied design examples; additional discussions related to the design of cold-formed steel structures and components; and expanded bibliographies of relevant resources. The database of examples illustrating the Direct Strength Method (DSM) and new provisions in the NA Specification has been expanded. Also published with the Manual are the North-American Specification and its Commentary.

Distortional Buckling Of Cold-Formed Steel Flanges Under Stress Gradient, Robert S. Glauz

CCFSS Proceedings of International Specialty Conference on Cold-Formed Steel Structures (1971 - 2018)

The strength of cold-formed steel beams with stiffened flanges may be controlled by distortional buckling. Buckling stress prediction methods have been developed for flanges under uniform compression. However, channel sections are commonly used where bending occurs about the minor axis with flanges under stress gradient, such that the edges are in compression and the flanges may experience distortional buckling. Current design specifications do not explicitly address this failure mode, which could lead to unsafe designs. This paper presents and verifies an analytical approach for distortional buckling stress prediction for flanges under stress gradient. The approach is consistent with the design …

Tensile Strength And Serviceability Of Cold-Formed Steel Clip Angles, Wenying Zhang, Zhishan Yan, Mahsa Mahdavian, Mohamad Yousof, Cheng Yu

CCFSS Proceedings of International Specialty Conference on Cold-Formed Steel Structures (1971 - 2018)

This paper reports the recent research findings of cold-formed steel clip angles in tension. The relevant experimental program and the proposed design methods are presented. The test program involved two phases of testing: Phase I of program focused on the pull-over strength of screw connections on the anchored leg of the clip angles, and Phase II of program concentrated on the tensile strength of the anchored leg of the clip angles within the service deflection limit. Design methods for predicting the pull-over strength as well as tensile strength within the serviceability deformation limit are proposed based on the test results …

Strength Of Cold-Formed Steel Clip Angle In Combined Bending And Shear Loading, Cheng Yu, Zhishan Yan, Wenying Zhang

CCFSS Proceedings of International Specialty Conference on Cold-Formed Steel Structures (1971 - 2018)

Thin-walled cold-formed steel (CFS) clip angles have been commonly used for connecting CFS framing members or attaching CFS members to the major building structure. The implementation of clip angles involves consideration of ultimate strength for combined bending moments and shear forces. Therefore, a test program of CFS clip angle was recently conducted to investigate the behavior and strength of cold-formed steel clip angle subjected to combined bending moments and shear forces at different boundary conditions. The research included connection tests on clip angle. The testing method was adopted from the AISI S914 Test Standard for Joist Connectors Attached to Clod-Formed …

Critical Design Criteria For Standard, Truncated, And Parallel Chords Cold-Formed Steel Trusses, Maelle Van Thienen, Johannes Dimyadi, James B. P. Lim, G. Charles Clifton

CCFSS Proceedings of International Specialty Conference on Cold-Formed Steel Structures (1971 - 2018)

The design of cold-formed steel trusses can be a very complicated and long repetitive process involving up to 28 load combinations added to serviceability checks depending on the design standards being used. This process is particularly tedious if a near optimal solution is required. Additionally, the risk of introducing human errors is usually quite high as it is a process often done by hand. FRAMECAD Structure is a niche software solution born from the desire to provide a complete solution for constructing with cold-formed steel by a company selling roll-forming machines. FRAMECAD Structure specialises on automating the calculations and design …

Cold-Formed Ferritic Stainless Steel Tubular Sections Under End-One-Flange Loading Condition, Hai-Ting Li, Benjamin Young

CCFSS Proceedings of International Specialty Conference on Cold-Formed Steel Structures (1971 - 2018)

This paper presents experimental and numerical investigations of cold-formed ferritic stainless steel tubular sections under End-One-Flange (EOF) loading condition. A series of web crippling tests was conducted on cold-formed square and rectangular hollow sections of ferritic stainless steel grade EN 1.4003. The web crippling test results were used for the verification of the finite element (FE) model. Upon verification, a parametric study was performed thereafter. The codified web crippling design provisions in American, Australian/New Zealand and European standards for stainless steel structures were assessed. Improved web crippling design rules are proposed for cold-formed ferritic stainless steel tubular sections under EOF …

Optimum Slot Weld Width For Cold-Formed Steel, Emilee A. Martin, Fredrick R. Rutz

CCFSS Proceedings of International Specialty Conference on Cold-Formed Steel Structures (1971 - 2018)

Slot welds can be used for connections in cold-formed steel (CFS) structures. However, structural engineers will find AISI S100, “North American Specification for the Design of Cold-Formed Steel Structural Members” (AISI 2016) - which can be used for guidance in calculating structural capacity of many welds types - silent on this specific application.

Research at the University of Colorado Denver has been directed toward determination of the strength of slot welds in sheet steel. A comprehensive series of tests were performed to determine structural capacity and ductility of various slot weld widths using a metal inert gas (MIG) welding process. …

Using Generalized Beam Theory To Assess The Behavior Of Curved Thin-Walled Members, Nuno Peres, Rodrigo Goncalves, Dinar Camotim

CCFSS Proceedings of International Specialty Conference on Cold-Formed Steel Structures (1971 - 2018)

In this work, the first-order behavior of naturally curved thin-walled bars with circular axis, without pre-twist, is assessed with the help of the Generalized Beam Theory (GBT) formulation previously developed by the authors. With respect to the previous work, which dealt with simple cross-sections, the present paper presents a method to obtain the deformation modes for arbitrary flat-walled cross-sections. Despite the complexity involved in this generalization, the standard GBT kinematic assumptions are kept, since they are essential to (i) subdivide the modes in a meaningful way and (ii) reduce the number of DOFs necessary to obtain accurate solutions. It is …

Proposal To Improve The Dsm Design Of Cold-Formed Steel Angle Columns: Need, Background, Quality Assessment And Illustration, Pedro Borges Dinis, Dinar Camotim

CCFSS Proceedings of International Specialty Conference on Cold-Formed Steel Structures (1971 - 2018)

This paper presents a proposal for the codification of an efficient design approach, based on the Direct Strength Method (DSM), for cold-formed steel equal-leg angle columns with short-to-intermediate lengths, i.e., those buckling in flexural-torsional modes. Initially, the available experimental failure load data, comprising fixed-ended and pin-ended (“cylindrical hinges”) columns with several geometries (cross-section dimensions and lengths) and tested by various researchers, are collected and used to show that the currently codified DSM design provisions are not able to handle adequately short-to- intermediate angle columns and that a specific DSM-based design approach is needed to estimate the failure loads of such …

Comparison Of Experimental And Numerical Results For Flexural Capacity Of Light-Gage Steel Roof Deck, Christopher H. Raebel, Dawid Gwodzdz

CCFSS Proceedings of International Specialty Conference on Cold-Formed Steel Structures (1971 - 2018)

The objective of this paper is to present a comparison between experimental results to each of two numerical analyses of cold formed steel roof deck in flexure. Prior numerical studies using the Direct Strength Method (DSM) and the Equivalent Width Method (EWM) have shown discrepancies between results obtained by the two methods. The goal of this research initiative was to compare results from each of the two numerical analysis methods to experimental results in an effort to determine which numerical method is most appropriate for analyzing steel deck in flexure.

Twenty-four physical tests were conducted using four different deck gages …

The Design And Development Of Lightweight Composite Panels For Rigid Wall Structures, Jeremy J. Artman, Cheng Yu

CCFSS Proceedings of International Specialty Conference on Cold-Formed Steel Structures (1971 - 2018)

The paper presents a research effort aimed at developing a stronger, lighter, and more economic shelter for both military and civilian use. Reported herein are the research results on developing solid wall panels using cold-formed steel corrugated sheathing and members, as well as polyurethane spray foam for insulation. This research includes calculating uniform load density, determining the overall strength of the panel, and investigating the flexural strength of the roof panels. Research incorporated different connection methods, with varied stud spacing, to determine the safest design for the new mobile facilities. Previous research has shown that cold-formed steel corrugated sheathing performs …

Experimental Study On Uplift Capacity Of Purlins Considering Restraints From Standing Seam Roof Systems, Wei Luan, Yuanqi Li

CCFSS Proceedings of International Specialty Conference on Cold-Formed Steel Structures (1971 - 2018)

A total of 32 specimens of single-span purlin roof assemblies considering uplift wind load were tested to investigate the structural behavior of cold-formed steel purlins with one flange fastened to standing seam roofs. Failure modes and failure loads of purlins with different parameters were obtained. Full finite element models, incorporate purlins, clips and standing seam roof panels, were developed, and the analysis results were consistent to a high degree with the test results. Using the same element type and material model, the rotational restraint of test roof systems and corresponding influence factors were investigated by finite element models. Finally, using …

A Finite Element Study Of Corrugated Steel Deck Subjected To Concentrated Loads, Vitaliy V. Degtyarev

CCFSS Proceedings of International Specialty Conference on Cold-Formed Steel Structures (1971 - 2018)

An extensive parametric study was initiated to get a better understanding of steel deck behavior under concentrated loads and to develop design recommendations for a wide range of deck profiles. This paper presents first results from the study related to 1.5-in. deep roof decks of types B and F. The study was performed on non-linear finite element models of deck validated against available test data. Deck gage, span length, span condition, concentrated load locations along and across the deck span were varied in the study. The observed deck behavior under concentrated loads, as well as the effects of the studied …