Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

A Century Of Observations Reveals Increasing Likelihood Of Continental-Scale Compound Dry-Hot Extremes, Mohammad Reza Alizadeh, Jan Adamowski, Mohammad Reza Nikoo, Amir Aghakouchak, Philip Dennison, Mojtaba Sadegh

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Using over a century of ground-based observations over the contiguous United States, we show that the frequency of compound dry and hot extremes has increased substantially in the past decades, with an alarming increase in very rare dry-hot extremes. Our results indicate that the area affected by concurrent extremes has also increased significantly. Further, we explore homogeneity (i.e., connectedness) of dry-hot extremes across space. We show that dry-hot extremes have homogeneously enlarged over the past 122 years, pointing to spatial propagation of extreme dryness and heat and increased probability of continental-scale compound extremes. Last, we show an interesting shift between …

Multihazard Hurricane Fragility Model For Wood Structure Homes Considering Hazard Parameters And Building Attributes Interaction, Carol C. Massarra, Carol J. Friedland, Brian D. Marx, J. Casey Dietrich

Faculty Publications

Predicting building damage as a function of hurricane hazards, building attributes, and the interaction between hazard and building attributes is a key to understanding how significant interaction reflects variation hazard intensity effect on damage based on building attribute levels. This paper develops multihazard hurricane fragility models for wood structure homes considering interaction between hazard and building attributes. Fragility models are developed for ordered categorical damage states (DS) and binary collapse/no collapse. Exterior physical damage and building attributes from rapid assessment in coastal Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina (2005), high-resolution numerical hindcast hazard intensities from the Simulating WAves Nearshore and ADvanced CIRCulation …

Application Of Modified River Health Index For Sungai Penchala, Sathis Venkitasamy

Student Works (2020-2029)

The aim of this study is to have a tool of management of an urban river. A simple tool in terms of index aimed to be developed to manage urban river to meet its intended usage. River Health Index (RHI) developed by combining both physico-chemical parameters and biological measures through scores and weightages. Sungai Penchala is the small urban river chosen for this study. Water quality study, which include physico-chemical parameters, benthic macroinvertebrates and surrounding land use activities have been carried out since May 2016 to September 2016. Ten sampling points have been selected to represent the condition of the …

Isotherm And Kinetics Study For The Adsorption Of Nitrate From An Aqueous Solution Using A Modified Rice Straw, Dalia A. Ali Eng, Mohamed A. Sadek Prof., Nagwa Mahmoud Al-Mansi Prof, Ahmad Wafiq Aboelnasr Dr.

Chemical Engineering

In this research, modified rice straw (MRS) is proposed. The proposed production process of the modified rice straw (MRS) adsorbent is carried out by precipitation of iron nano particles on the surface of acid activated rice straw. The nitrate adsorption is carried out through batch experiments. The optimum nitrate removal 94.8 % was achieved at pH = 7, adsorbent dose 3 = g/L, 150 rpm, initial nitrate concentration = 23 mg/L and contact time 180 = min. The new adsorbent synthesis, kinetics and isotherm models were studied. The nitrate adsorption was well described by pseudo second order kinetic model (R2 …

Framework For Automated Generation Of Constructible Steel Erection Sequences Using Structural Information Of Static Indeterminacy Variation In Bim, Kyungki Kim, Jeewoong Park, Chunhee Cho

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

For effective pre-construction process, engineers create a 4D building information model (BIM). However, the rich information associated with the creation of the 4D BIM leads to manual effort. Past studies explored methods that automatically generate construction schedules using 3D building models. However, no method properly utilized relationships between building elements to robustly generate 4D BIMs that are structural stable during installation. This research presents an approach to the automated generation of structurally stable construction sequences using a 3D BIM. Focusing on steel erection, we create a framework integrating a 3D BIM and algorithms to create a 4D BIM with detailed …

Drought Frequency Analysis Based On The Development Of A Two-Variate Standardized Index (Rainfall-Runoff), Gholamreza Nikravesh, Mohammad Aghababaei, Mohammad Nazari-Sharabian, Moses Karakouzian

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Drought is one of the most drastic events, which has imposed irreparable damages on human societies and may occur in any climate regime. To define drought, given its properties of multidimensionality and randomity, one cannot rely on a single variable/index (e.g., precipitation, soil moisture, and runoff). Accordingly, implementing a novel approach, this study investigated drought events in two basins with different climatic regimes, using multivariate frequency analyses of drought duration, severity, and severity peak, based on developing a Two-variate Standardized Index (TSI). The index was developed based on the concept of copula, by applying rainfall-runoff data (1974-2019) and comparing them …

Design And Experiment Of A Sun-Powered Smart Building Envelope With Automatic Control, Qiliang Lin, Yanchu Zhang, Arnaud Van Mieghem, Yi-Chung Chen, Nanfang Yu, Yuan Yang, Huiming Yin

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research

A novel sun-powered smart window blind (SPSWB) system has been designed and developed for the smart control of building envelopes to achieve the optimal internal comfort with minimum energy expenditure. Its self-powered sensing, controlling, and actuation significantly simplify the installation and maintenance of the system. The energy is harvested by the attached thin-film photovoltaic cells, after which it is voltage-regulated for the permanent storage into a rechargeable battery with 55% energy efficiency. The excessive heat absorbed by the solar cells is dissipated by a PVdF-HFP porous coating with more than 9% temperature reduction. The smart control of the energy harvesting …

Feasibility And Implementation Of Balanced Mix Design In Nebraska, Gabriel Nsengiyumva, Yong-Rak Kim, Jiong Hu

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Balanced mixture design is an alternative asphalt concrete design method that incorporates the performance of mixtures during the design. Balanced mixture design consists of performance test methods and performance criteria. Compared to the existing Superpave design method which mostly relies on volumetrics to design mixtures, balanced mixture design is more suited to account for performance improvements originating from reclaimed asphalt pavement and other foreign additives such as rejuvenators, warm- mix asphalt additives, polymers, and anti-stripping agents. This study investigated the feasibility of the implementation of balanced mixture design in Nebraska mixtures by exploring appropriate test methods (i.e., for fracture and …

Uav-Enabled Measurement For Spatial Magnetic Field Of Smart Rocks In Bridge Scour Monitoring, Genda Chen

INSPIRE Archived Webinars

This lecture will present an overview of the research, development, validation, and implementation of 'smart' rocks as in-situ agents to assist in remote monitoring of bridge scour in real time. It will start with a brief review of fundamental concepts such as magnet, polarization, magnetic field, and field measurement principle. It will then introduce the concept of ‘smart’ rocks, demonstrate it through small-scale laboratory tests, and design and fabricate gravity-controlled ‘smart’ rocks for field implementation based on river hydrodynamics and riverbed conditions. Next, a ‘smart’ rock localization optimization algorithm will be formulated analytically and validated experimentally in open fields. It …

Investigating Effects Of Landfill Soil Gases On Landfill Elevated Subsurface Temperature, Samain Sabrin, Rouzbeh Nazari, Md Golam Rabbani Fahad, Maryam Kirimi, Jess Everett, Robert W. Peters

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

Subsurface temperature is a critical indicator for the identification of the risk associated with subsurface fire hazards in landfills. Most operational landfills in the United States (US) have experienced exothermic reactions in their subsurface. The subsurface landfill area is composed of various gases generated from chemical reactions inside the landfills. Federal laws in the US mandate the monitoring of gases in landfills to prevent hazardous events such as landfill fire breakouts. There are insufficient investigations conducted to identify the causes of landfill fire hazards. The objective of this research is to develop a methodological approach to this issue. In this …

Introducing The Self-Cleaning Filtration For Water Quality Sensors (Sc-Flawless) System, Aashish Sanjay Khandelwal

Civil Engineering ETDs

Sensor-based, semi-continuous observations of water quality parameters have become critical to understanding how changes in land use, management, and rainfall-runoff processes impact water quality at diurnal to multi-decadal scales. While some commercially available water quality sensors function adequately under a range of turbidity conditions, other instruments, including those used to measure nutrient concentrations, cease to function in high turbidity waters (> 100 NTU) commonly found in large rivers, arid-land rivers, and coastal areas. This is particularly true during storm events, when increases in turbidity are often concurrent with increases in nutrient transport. Here, we present the development and validation of …

A Study On The Performance Of University Malaya Campus Bus Service Using Dwell Time Model And Passenger Distribution Analysis, Gan Jia Jun

Student Works (2020-2029)

Accessibility and mobility are key to a sustainable transport system for the community within a green university campus. To encourage more sustainable transport usage, public transport such as campus bus service are provided for students to commute between academic buildings and residential areas on campus. The current operating timetable of the campus bus service is made by the Student Affairs Division based on the observation of bus service in the past few years. This research aimed to study the capability of the campus bus service in University of Malaya (UM) to accommodate the demand of students. A survey questionnaire was …

Impacts Of Compaction Load And Procedure On Stress-Deformation Behaviors Of A Soil Geosynthetic Composite (Sgc) Mass—A Case Study, Meenwah Gui, Truc Phan, Thang Pham

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Fill compaction in the construction of Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil (GRS) mass is typically performed by operating a vibratory or roller compactor, which in turns imposed a compaction load in direction perpendicular to the wall face. The compaction process resulted in the development of the so-called compaction-induced stress (CIS), which may subsequently increase the stiffness and strength of the fill material. Compaction process is normally simulated using one of the following compaction procedures—(i) a uniformly distributed load acting on the top surface of each soil lift, (ii) a uniformly distributed load acting on the top and bottom surface of each soil …

Improvement Of Stock Opening Diagram Of Uranium Deposits When Involving In Processing By Method Underground Leaching, Alikulov Sh.Sh., Akhadov Kh.R., Xalimov L.U.

Gorniy vestnik Uzbekistana

Uranium deposits of the Kyzylkum region, related to deposits of reservoir-infiltration or “sandstone” type and developed by the PV method, are formed mainly due to the occurrence of exogenous-epigenic processes in permeable rocks of the sedimentary cover. Research in practice shows that between the exploration characteristics often changes in the geometry of the ore body in the absence of confirmation of linear reserves. Therefore, use the present methodology to clarify the random errors of the parameters between exploration and industrial, to extract products from the bowels as much as possible and without loss. After clarification and justification of all necessary …

Extraction Purification Of Concentrates Of Rare Earth Elements From Impurities And Natural Radionuclides, O.F. Petuhov, B.T. Ruziev, U.Z. Sharafutdinov

Gorniy vestnik Uzbekistana

The article presents the results of experimental studies on the extraction of rare-earth element concentrates from impurities and natural radionuclides. As part of the research, a technology for cleaning concentrates has been developed, including the following operations: Experimental studies have shown the possibility of effective purification of rare-earth element concentrates from impurities and natural radionuclides by the extraction method.

Heterogenous Trip Distance-Based Route Choice Behavior Analysis Using Real-World Large-Scale Taxi Trajectory Data, Yajuan Deng, Meiye Li, Qing Tang, Renjie He, Xianbiao Hu

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Most early research on route choice behavior analysis relied on the data collected from the stated preference survey or through small-scale experiments. This manuscript focused on the understanding of commuters' route choice behavior based on the massive amount of trajectory data collected from occupied taxicabs. The underlying assumption was that travel behavior of occupied taxi drivers can be considered as no different than the well-experienced commuters. To this end, the DBSCAN algorithm and Akaike information criterion (AIC) were first used to classify trips into different categories based on the trip length. Next, a total of 9 explanatory variables were defined …

Real-Time Road Hazard Information System, Carlos Pena-Caballero, Dong-Chul Kim, Adolfo Gonzalez, Osvaldo Castellanos, Angel A. Cantu, Jungseok Ho

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Infrastructure is a significant factor in economic growth for systems of government. In order to increase economic productivity, maintaining infrastructure quality is essential. One of the elements of infrastructure is roads. Roads are means which help local and national economies be more productive. Furthermore, road damage such as potholes, debris, or cracks is the cause of many on-road accidents that have cost the lives of many drivers. In this paper, we propose a system that uses Convolutional Neural Networks to detect road degradations without data pre-processing. We utilize the state-of-the-art object detection algorithm, YOLO detector for the system. First, we …

Sharpening Ecostress And Viirs Land Surface Temperature Using Harmonized Landsat-Sentinel Surface Reflectances, Jie Xue, Martha C. Anderson, Feng Gao, Christopher Hain, Liang Sun, Yun Yang, Kyle R. Knipper, William P. Kustas, Alfonso F. Torres-Rua, Mitch Schull

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Land surface temperature (LST) is a key diagnostic indicator of agricultural water use and crop stress. LST data retrieved from thermal infrared (TIR) band imagery, however, tend to have a coarser spatial resolution (e.g., 100 m for Landsat 8) than surface reflectance (SR) data collected from shortwave bands on the same instrument (e.g., 30 m for Landsat). Spatial sharpening of LST data using the higher resolution multi-band SR data provides an important path for improved agricultural monitoring at sub-field scales. A previously developed Data Mining Sharpener (DMS) approach has shown great potential in the sharpening of Landsat LST using Landsat …

Permeable Road Pavement With Subsurface Precast Micro-Detention Storage: A Green Pavement Practice, Norazlina Bateni

Student Works (2020-2029)

Green infrastructure practices are uniquely applicable to address the relationship between land use and water resources through the replication of the natural hydrological process within the landscape. Implementation of such practices, especially green pavement can significantly improve the rainfall-runoff responses, and thereby minimise the occurrence of flood hazards, which may lead to uncountable economic losses. Common permeable pavements are typically composed of fine-layered particles attributed to low porosity. In this study, an innovative permeable pavement with a micro-detention pond storage (PPDS) system is proposed. It is a modified type of interlocking block permeable pavement consisting of a hollow cylinder with …

Component Analysis Of Bio-Asphalt Binder Using Crumb Rubber Modifier And Guayule Resin As An Innovative Asphalt Replacer, Ahmed Hemida, Magdy Abdelrahman

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This research seeks to interpret the component analysis of an innovative bio-asphalt binder using guayule resin in addition to crumb rubber modifier (CRM) at high concentrations. Such asphalt modification aims to minimize the dependency on virgin asphalt binder and provide new solutions concerning sustainable, flexible pavement industry. Guayule resin is a promising bioresource for asphalt binder replacement. By now, it could be considered a no value byproduct extracted during the guayule natural rubber production. CRM is a recycled material derived from scrap tires. The provided interpretation could help in understanding the asphalt-rubber-guayule interaction mechanism. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), supported …

Mechanism Of Organic Odor Generation From Thermophilically Digested Biosolids, Jong-Min Kim

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

In anticipation to generate more stabilized biosolids, thermophilic anaerobic digestion systems are widely used to destroy greater sludge organics thus making them less odorous. In this study, single-stage thermophilic (at 55 ℃) and mesophilic (at 37 ℃) anaerobic digesters were studied to compare organic removal efficiencies and sulfur-based odor generation from their biosolids. Although the thermophilic system removed about 9% more volatile solids than the mesophilic system, about 55 times more odorous organic sulfur compounds were measured from dewatered thermophilic biosolids. Different methanogenic species were found to be responsible for malodorous dewatered biosolids from the thermophilic anaerobic digester.

Effects Of Tire Pressures And Test Temperatures On Permanent Deformation Of Direct Coal Liquefaction Residue Mixture, Suo Zhi, Ji Jie, Zhang Ran, Wang Zhe, Yao Hui, Dongzhao Jin

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

The main objective of this research is to investigate the permanent deformation of asphalt mixtures containing direct coal liquefaction residue (DCLR) under various tire pressures and temperatures. Three types of asphalt mixtures, including control/DCLR/composite-DCLR modified asphalt mixture, were prepared by the Marshall design method. The rutting test was conducted under a tire pressure range of 0.7–1.0 MPa with a 0.1-MPa interval and at a temperature range of 55–70°C with a 5°C interval. Moreover, the dynamic stability and rutting depth of three asphalt mixtures were obtained to evaluate their resistance of permanent deformation. It was found that the rutting resistance of …

Effect Of Competent Caliche Layers On Measuring The Capacity Of Axially Loaded Drilled Shafts Using The Osterberg Test, Rouzbeh Afsharhasani, Moses Karakouzian, Visar Farhangi

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

This study investigates the effect of the location of an O-cell hydraulic jack along the length of a drilled shaft in a full-scale Osterberg test performed in soils containing layers of caliche. The location of the hydraulic jack with respect to caliche layers influences the measurements obtained from the Osterberg test and the subsequent interpretation of drilled shaft capacity. In this study, drilled shaft capacities were derived utilizing data from 30 Osterberg full-scale field load tests in soils containing caliche layers. The hydraulic jack was placed at the midpoint of the drilled shaft length. Additionally, the Osterberg test data was …

Historical Changes In Planform Geometry Of The Amite And Comite Rivers And Implications On Flood Routing, Kathleen E. Harris

LSU Master's Theses

The Amite River Basin is a 2,220 square-mile basin spanning from southwest Mississippi through southeast Louisiana, encompassing Baton Rouge and its suburbs. In response to historic flooding in August 2016 and other major flood events in the past several decades, the basin has been the subject of a number of studies to quantify the impacts of changes in land-use and reduction in river length and sinuosity. However, there have yet to be relationships defined between the changes in the historical river planform and the resulting flow, stages, and subsequent flood depths. River lengths and sinuosity were measured from the 1930s …

Development And Testing Of A Bridge Rail For Low-Volume Roads, Scott K. Rosenbaugh, Jacob Delone, Ronald K. Faller, Robert W. Bielenberg

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

A new steel bridge rail was developed for use on low-volume bridges. The railing consisted 31-in. tall, 12-gauge Wbeam guardrail mounted on S3x5.7 posts, which were supported by steel square-tube sockets attached to the side of the bridge deck. The sockets were to be attached to the steel C-channel that is typically placed along the edges of rural bridge decks in the state of Nebraska. The bridge railing was developed for use on both 7-in. thick cast in place decks and 12-in. thick prestressed concrete beam slabs.

Various welded and bolted socket-to-channel attachment designs were evaluated through dynamic bogie testing …

Structural Design Example -- Four Span Metal Building Z-Purlin Line Supporting A Standing Seam Roof, Christopher D. Moen

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

This example provides a step-by-step strength calculation of a 4-span continuous Z-purlin system supporting a standing seam roof.

Design inputs are defined first, including cross-section dimensions and orientation, span lengths, roof slope, and bracing provided by the standing seam to the purlin line. The calculations consider gravity (downward) and suction (uplift) loadings.

Application Of Industrial Red Mud, Shubhajit Bala

Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Theses and Dissertations

Red Mud is solid waste, brick red in colour is a by-product of Bayer process of alumina production. About 1 to 1.5 tonne of red mud is produced from production of 1 tonne of alumina. The waste generation is in huge quantity and methods for management of waste is not followed properly. It leads to spreading & leakage of Red Mud in environment. Hence, conversion of red mud to a valuable product was especially important. The main aim was conversion of Red Mud into valuable product. The potential of red mud for various applications like Magnetic Slime, Car batteries & …

"Identification And Characterization Of Genetic Determinants In Bacteria Involved In Froth Formation At Natural Water Bodies", Swathi A

Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Theses and Dissertations

Industrialization, modernization, rapid urbanization, and unscientific disposal of inadequately treated sewage and effluent from the various source into surface water bodies has been a major concern leading to water pollution. Frothing of lakes and foam related issues is one such emerging environmental concern in South India. Although several researchers have dealt with the characterization of physical and chemical parameters to understand the mechanism of foam formation, the role of biotic factors has been largely ignored. The main objective of this project is to identify the bacteria present in the froth forming lakes, to identify and characterize the biosurfactant of the …

Efficacy Of Enzymatically Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation In The Retention Of Heavy Metal Ions, Arif Ali Baig Moghal, Mohammed Abdul Lateef, Syed Abu Sayeed Mohammed, Kehinde Lemboye, Bhaskar C. S. Chittoori, Abdullah Almajed

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study evaluated the efficacy of enzyme induced calcite precipitation (EICP) in restricting the mobility of heavy metals in soils. EICP is an environmentally friendly method that has wide ranging applications in the sustainable development of civil infrastructure. The study examined the desorption of three heavy metals from treated and untreated soils using ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) and citric acid (C₆H₈O₇) extractants under harsh conditions. Two natural soils spiked with cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), and lead (Pb) were studied in this research. The soils were treated with three types of enzyme solutions (ESs) …

A Probabilistic Casualty Model To Include Injury Severity Levels In Seismic Risk Assessment, Weichiang Pang, S. Majdalaweyh, A. Safiey, K. Rokneddin, S. Prabhu, M. Javanbarg, E. Ziaei

Publications

Despite the increasing adoption of Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering (PBEE) in seismic risk assessment and design of buildings, earthquakes resulted in around 1.8 million injuries (three times the number of fatalities) over the past two decades. Several existing PBEE-based methodologies use rudimentary models that may not accurately estimate earthquake-induced casualties. Even when models are suitable for predicting the total number of fatalities and critical injuries, they may fail to adequately differentiate between different levels of injury severity. This paper draws attention to the importance of extending the seismic casualty assessment method by broadening the perspective on injury severity. To this cause, …