Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Vehicle Performance Analysis Of An Autonomous Electric Shuttle Modified For Wheelchair Accessibility, Johan Fanas Rojas

Masters Theses

Autonomous vehicles (AV) have the potential to vastly improve independent, safe, and cost-effective mobility options for individuals with disabilities. However, accessibility considerations are often overlooked in the early stages of design, resulting in AVs that are inaccessible to people with disabilities. The needs of wheeled mobility device users can cause significant vehicle design changes due to requirements for stepless ingress/egress and increased space for onboard circulation and securement. Vehicles serving people with disabilities typically require costly aftermarket modifications for accessibility, which may have unforeseen impacts on vehicle performance and safety, particularly in the case of automated vehicles. In this research, …

Social Justice Mitigation In Transportation Projects: Why And How Lexington Fayette Urban County Government Can Support The Lexington Community Land Trust’S Path To Self-Sustainability, Pamela Clay-Young, Steven Douglas Kreis

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The city of Lexington has reached a critical shortage of affordable housing available to families earning 80% - 50% of area median income (AMI). This study focuses on how to grow the Lexington CLT into self-sustainability while also narrowing the affordable housing gaps in Fayette County. Current research offers support for the city’s affordable housing program to adopt the community land trust model (CLT). The research recommends using tools such as the Lexington CLT, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Landbank Authority (LFUCLA), and Lexington’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, along with new development incentives, to develop a housing strategy that is cost …

Maize Growth, Yield, Water Productivity And Evapotranspiration Response To Different Irrigation Methods And Amounts And Different Timing And Methods Of Nitrogen Applications, Ali T. Mohammed

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Declining the quantity and quality of freshwater resources in many parts of the world, including Midwestern USA, especially in the light of rapidly growing world’s population and changing climate, imposes significant and, in some cases imminent, challenges for producers, policy- and decision-makers to produce more yield with less water and other inputs, particularly in water scarcity regions.

There is not comprehensive previous research has quantified and evaluated coupled impacts of irrigation rates and nitrogen timing management strategies and their interactions on maize (Zea mays L.) productivity and its various attributed efficiency index metrics under different irrigation methods under the …

Seismic Evaluation And Optimization Of Reinforced Concrete Multistory Building, Ahmed Abdallah

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Elmer R. Smith College of Business and Technology at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Science by Ahmed Abdallah in April of 2020.

Design Of A Greywater-Fed Hydroponics System, Alex Estrada, Katya Fairchok, Andrew Feldmeth, Andrew Jezak

Interdisciplinary Design Senior Theses

To combat issues of local water insecurity, a hydroponics system was designed in partnership with LEAP 5 High School in Jane Furse, South Africa. Climate change, increasing human population, and continued environmental degradation all threaten access to clean drinking water. Approximately seventy percent of all freshwater is used for agriculture globally, thus threatening food security especially in developing countries where access to water is potentially volatile. The hydroponics garden system utilizes sustainable materials, a self-monitoring temperature controls system, and greywater input, to act as an educational tool for students and significantly reduce freshwater use compared to traditional, in-ground agriculture. An …

Application Of Internal Curing To Improve Concrete Bridge Deck Performance, Arman Abdigaliyev, Yong-Rak Kim, Jiong Hu

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Due to the relatively high cement content and low water-to-cement ratio (w/c) used, bridge deck concrete is prone to premature cracking. Internal curing has been found to greatly reduce the chance of premature cracking as well as concrete deterioration. This research project was intended to develop internally cured bridge deck concrete based on a local mix design in Nebraska. Four different lightweight fine aggregate (LWFA) as internal curing agents were evaluated, and their effects on fresh, mechanical, durability, and shrinkage properties of concrete were studied. To identify the most effective LWFA dosage for shrinkage reduction, different replacement rates of sand …

Correlation Analysis Of Mdss And Newins, Mark R. Anderson, Curtis L. Walker, Nancy Barnhardt, Nathan Rick, Cameron Wunderlin

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Improving winter maintenance is a goal of most transportation agencies including the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT). One approach is to develop a decision support system to aid in the winter maintenance recommendations. Iteris has developed a maintenance decision support system (MDSS) and has teamed up with NDOT to provide winter weather guidance for operations. This report investigates how well the MDSS functions for several routes across Nebraska for different storm systems. The analysis was performed from saved events within MDSS and compared to meteorological observations during different storm events, mainly Colorado or Alberta Clipper type storms that moved through …

Development And Implementation Of A Moving Nondestructive Evaluation Platform For Bridge Deck Inspection, Sepehr Pashoutani, Jinying Zhu, Chungwook Sim, Brian Mazzeo, Spencer Guthrie

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Degradation in concrete bridge decks is typically manifested as rebar corrosion, concrete delamination, and surface cracks. Nondestructive evaluation and testing (NDE/NDT) technologies have been increasingly used in concrete bridge deck evaluation to identify, localize, and quantify deterioration in bridge decks. Each NDE method has its advantages and limitations on the type of defect that can be detected. Therefore, combining multiple NDE technologies is needed in order to give comprehensive and reliable information about the bridge deck condition. For effective application of multiple NDE tests, we need to use automated positioning for each NDE to facilitate post-processing and data fusion of …

Investigating The Effects Of Aggregate Size And Reinforcement On Asr Cracking In Concrete Structures Studied With Different Evaluation Methods, David Joseph Bianco

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this thesis is to investigate different (non-destructive) evaluation methods to assess the effects of reactive aggregate size and reinforcement on ASR affected concrete. It has been shown in previous literature that reactive coarse aggregates lead to more expansion as opposed to reactive fine aggregates. However, there is a lack in the literature exhibiting this relationship using different evaluation methods, such as acoustic emission (AE) and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV). Also, the literature does not emphasize the role this relationship plays when the concrete is imposed with stress boundary conditions. Non-destructive test methods, including acoustic emission, are becoming …

Lateral-Torsional Instability And Biaxial Flexure Of Continuous Gfrp Beams Including Warping And Shear Deformations, Waverly G. Hampton

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation presents an experimental and theoretical study of the lateral-torsional instability and biaxial flexure of Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) beams including warping and shear deformation effects. The theoretical analysis is based on three simultaneous differential equations of equilibrium with new terms added to account for shear deformation effects. To solve these equations, algorithms based upon a central finite-difference approach are then developed. The experimental study is conducted on a series of single- and multi-span beams subjected to concentrated loads. The predicted beam behavior agreed well with that observed experimentally. The investigation revealed that the ASCE-LRFD Prestandard for pultruded …

A Rule Based Control Algorithm For On-Ramp Merge With Connected And Automated Vehicles, Ehsan Beheshtitabar

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

One of the designs for future highways with the flow of Connected Automated Vehicles (CAVs) cars will be a dedicated lane for the CAVs to form platoons and travel with higher speeds and lower headways. The connectivity will enable the formation of platoons of CAVs traveling beside non-platoon lanes. The advent of connectivity between vehicles and the infrastructure will enable advanced control strategies ̶ improving the performance of the traffic ̶ to be incorporated in the traffic system. The merge area in a multilane highway with CAVs is one of the sections which can be enhanced by the operation of …

Lignin: A Likely Precursor Of A Significant Fraction Of Humic Substances Via Oxidative Transformations, Seyyedhadi Khatami

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Lignin is a major component of decaying terrestrial vegetation in soils and has been arguably reported to contribute substantially to the formation of soil carbon humus, and natural dissolved organic matter (DOM). To better understand the process by which this humification occurs, lignin and lignin-derived monomers were subjected to both biotic and abiotic oxidation processes. Two well-known oxidative transformation strategies were employed. The first involved the fungal degradation of brown-rot degraded wood subjected to a white-rot fungus (Phanerochaete chrysosporium) whose enzymes are particularly effective in lignin degradation via enzymatic oxidation. This enzymatic attack was monitored by ultrahigh resolution …

Analysis Of Military Construction Cost Growth In Usaf Major Defense Acquisition Programs, Emily E. Angell, Edward D. White, Jonathan D. Ritschel, Alfred E. Thal Jr.

Faculty Publications

This study uses descriptive and inferential statistics to identify cost growth Analysis of Military Construction of military construction (MILCON) at the programmatic level, while bridging the gap between Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) estimates and actual project costs. Findings of this study aid the cost community with appropriate allocation of resources in developing these estimates. Overall, Major Defense Acquisition Programs (MDAP) appear to experience more negative growth (cost savings) in MILCON estimates on reviewed SARs— typically less than 0.2% of the total program cost. SAR estimates became more accurate from the first to last SAR in comparison to the total MILCON …

Truck Trailer Classification Using Side-Fire Light Detection And Ranging (Lidar) Data, Olcay Sahin

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Classification of vehicles into distinct groups is critical for many applications, including freight and commodity flow modeling, pavement management and design, tolling, air quality monitoring, and intelligent transportation systems. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) developed a standardized 13-category vehicle classification ruleset, which meets the needs of many traffic data user applications. However, some applications need high-resolution data for modeling and analysis. For example, the type of commodity being carried must be known in the freight modeling framework. Unfortunately, this information is not available at the state or metropolitan level, or it is expensive to obtain from current resources.

Nevertheless, using …

The Impacts Of Surface Gravity Waves On Buoyant Plume Dilution, Bruce William Husselbee

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A common practice in coastal areas is to collect, treat and discharge fluids including treated wastewater, stormwater or power plant effluent to areas of lesser impact. The discharge of these fluids, conveyed through pipelines into coastal areas, continues to be an important human health and environmental concern. The fluid discharged from these pipelines is often buoyant which allows for dilution and dispersion into these ambient waters.

Initial dilution, defined as the maximum concentration of a discharged fluid at the maximum rise in height within a buoyant plume, is critical in the consideration of the environmental impacts of a discharge into …

The State Of Technologies And Research For Energy Recovery From Municipal Wastewater Sludge And Biosolids, Zhongzhe Liu, Brooke K. Mayer, Kaushik Venkiteshwaran, Saba Seyedi, Arun S.K. Raju, Daniel Zitomer, Patrick J. Mcnamara

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Wastewater resource recovery facilities produce wastewater solids that offer potential for energy recovery. This opinion article provides a perspective on state-of-the-art technologies to recover energy from sludge (unstabilized wastewater residual solids) and biosolids (stabilized wastewater solids meeting criteria for application on land). The production of biodiesel fuel is an emerging technology for energy recovery from sludge, whereas advancements in pretreatment technologies have improved energy recovery from anaerobic digestion of sludge. Incineration is an established technology to recover energy from sludge or biosolids. Gasification, and to a greater extent, pyrolysis are emerging technologies well-suited for energy recovery from biosolids. While gasification …

Inelastic Behavior And Seismic Design Of Multistory Chevron-Braced Frames With Yielding Beams, Charles W. Roeder, Andrew D. Sen, Hayato Asada, Sara M. Ibarra, Dawn E. Lehman, Jeffrey W. Berman, Keh-Chyuan Tsai, Ching-Yi Tsai, An-Chien Wu, Kung-Juin Wang, Ruyue Liu

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Chevron or inverted V-braced frames offer numerous architectural and structural advantages, but the current special concentrically braced frame (SCBF) seismic-design requirements in the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) Seismic Provisions for Structural Steel Buildings lead to deep, heavy chevron beams; as a result, few chevron SCBFs are built today. Recent research on single-story chevron SCBFs demonstrated that beam yielding can be advantageous at higher demand levels, and design for large, inelastic unbalanced brace-force demands may still result in acceptable seismic performance. However, this prior research did not consider the response of multistory frames. In particular, questions remain as to …

Monitoring The Performance Of Green Infrastructure: Pervious Pavement And Bioretention, Elizabeth Marie Regier

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Milwaukee, like many other aging cities, struggles with combined sewer overflows, basement backups, and urban stream syndrome. It is increasingly looking to green stormwater infrastructure as a way to alleviate stormwater concerns by treating, retaining, and slowly releasing stormwater near the locations where it falls. However, green stormwater infrastructure varies in its performance, and few studies have been performed in Southeast Wisconsin. Therefore, two bioswales and a pervious pavement installation were monitored for water quantity, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and total suspended solids. The bioswales were also monitored for dissolved phosphorus. The north bioswale reduced total phosphorus concentrations by a …

Heavy Civil Estimating Module For Cm 314, Everett A. Roberts

Construction Management

In the past, through engagement with students that have gone through the Heavy Civil class, it has been found that student understanding of typical heavy civil operations is subpar. Through an updated course module that focuses on estimating the four major operations, Earthwork, Underground, Asphalt, and Concrete, students will gain a deeper understanding of the heavy civil field of construction. The module consists of four assignments that pertain to the previously mentioned operations. Each contain a lecture detailing typical crew compositions and cycle times, reference material and resources the student can use when completing the assignments. This new module will …

Fate And Transport Of Antibiotics And Antibiotic Resistance Genes In Runoff And Soil As Affected By The Timing Of Swine Manure Slurry Application, Renys Enrique Barrios, Himanshu Khuntia, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt, John E. Gilley, Amy M. Schmidt Schmidt, Daniel D. Snow, Xu Li

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Land application of swine manure slurry is a common practice to supplement nutrients to soil for crop production. This practice can introduce antibiotic residues and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) into the environment. Field testing is critical in identifying manure management practices effective in minimizing the environmental impacts of manure-borne antibiotic and ARGs. The objective of this study was to determine how the timing of swine manure application relative to rainfall events impacts the fate and transport of antibiotics and ARGs in surface runoff and manure-amended soil. Swine manure slurry was either broadcast or injected on test plots in the field. …

Capturing Spatial Variability In Maize And Soybean Using Stationary Sensor Nodes, Jasreman Singh, Derek M. Heeren, Yufeng Ge, Geng Bai

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

• Irrigation in agriculture maximizes crop yield and improves food security globally • Irrigation scheduling is strongly based on the ability to accurately estimate the appropriate amount and timing of water application • The timing of the irrigation can best be informed through the crop canopy stress, and the amount of irrigation is informed through soil moisture depletion

• Developing upper (non-water stressed) and lower (non-transpiring) baselines for irrigated and non-irrigated maize and soybean • Investigating the relationship between the canopy stress and the soil moisture stress

The canopy temperature stress and soil moisture depletion had stronger correlation for non-irrigated …

Effects Of Collision Damage On The Ultimate Strength Of Fpso Vessels, Muhammad Zubair Muis Alie, Dian Ramasari, Taufiqur Rachman, Ristiyanto Adiputra

Makara Journal of Technology

Floating production storage offloading (FPSO) vessels are movable offshore structures. These structures are designed with large dimensions, and their decks are loaded with several types of equipment. During collision damage, the hull and deck parts loaded with equipment are severely affected. Therefore, the ultimate strength of FPSO vessels should be thoroughly checked and evaluated. The objective of the present study is to analyze the ultimate strength of FPSO vessels against collision damage characterized by hogging and sagging under longitudinal bending. The cross section of an FPSO vessel is modeled with elements composed of stiffened and unstiffened plates. The vessel length …

Ionic Conductivity And Electrochemical Properties Of Alginate–Nn4no3-Based Biopolymer Electrolytes For Edlc Application, Norfatihah Binti Mazuki, Nur Muhitul Jalilah Rasali, Bouchta Sahraoui, Ahmad Salihin Samsudin

Makara Journal of Technology

In this work, alginate doped with various contents of ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) as a solid biopolymer electrolyte (SBE) was prepared via casting by using distilled water as a solvent. Impedance studies on alginate–NH4NO3 SBE films were conducted via impedance spectroscopy. The lowest bulk resistance (Rb) showed that the maximum ionic conductivity of the sample containing 25 wt.% NH4NO3 at ambient temperature (303 K) was 5.56 × 10−5 S cm−1. The temperature dependence of ionic conductivity was evaluated, and results confirmed that electrolytes followed an Arrhenius behavior. The highest conducting sample was fabricated into an electrical double-layer capacitor and characterized in …

Synthesis Of Epoxy Monoethanolamide From Bauhinia Monandra Seed Oil, Adewale Adewuyi, Rotimi A. Oderinde

Makara Journal of Technology

In this study, we synthesized epoxidised monoethanolamide (EMA) from Bauhinia monandra seed oil (BMO) via a simple reaction route. In this process, BMO was transesterified to obtain a mixture of methyl esters, which was subjected to a urea adduct complexation reaction. The unsaturated methyl esters (BME) from the urea adduct complexation reaction were then epoxidised using performic acid produced in situ in a one-pot reaction system. The epoxidised methyl esters were converted to EMA by reacting them with monoethanolamine (1:10). The progression of the reaction was monitored using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and the …

Multi-Level-Phase Deep Learning Using Divide-And-Conquer For Scaffolding Safety, Sayan Sakhakarmi, Jee Woong Park

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

A traditional structural analysis of scaffolding structures requires loading conditions that are only possible during design, but not in operation. Thus, this study proposes a method that can be used during operation to make an automated safety prediction for scaffolds. It implements a divide-and-conquer technique with deep learning. As a test scaffolding, a four-bay, three-story scaffold model was used. Analysis of the model led to 1411 unique safety cases for the model. To apply deep learning, a test simulation generated 1,540,000 datasets for pre-training, and an additional 141,100 datasets for testing purposes. The cases were then sub-divided into 18 categories …

Ethylene Carbonate And Polyethylene Glycol As Efficient Plasticizers In Cmc-Pva-Nh4no3-Based Polymer Electrolyte, Noor Saadiah Mohd Ali, Yuki Nagao, Ahmad Salihin Samsudin

Makara Journal of Technology

This study investigated the influence of plasticizers (polyethylene glycol [PEG] and ethylene carbonate [EC]) on the ionic conduction of CMC-PVA-NH4NO3. Blended biopolymer electrolytes (BBEs) based on carboxymethyl cellulose–polyvinyl alcohol (CMC-PVA) doped with ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) were obtained via casting solution technique incorporated with PEG and EC, which acted as plasticizers. Electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was conducted to evaluate the effect of plasticization on the ionic conduction properties. The ionic conductivity improved from 1.70 × 10−3 S/cm for un-plasticized BBEs to 3.92 × 10−3 S/cm for plasticized BBEs with EC and 3.00 × 10−3 S/cm for plasticized BBEs with PEG. The …

Current Status Of Hydrothermal Treatment For Energy And Material Recovery Toward A Sustainable Post-Consumer Material Cycle, Baskoro Lokahita, Muhammad Aziz, Fumitake Takahashi

Makara Journal of Technology

The demand for energy-efficient and environmentally friendly municipal solid waste (MSW) processing has increased in developing countries. The thermochemical process offers a fast and reliable solution to reutilize or reduce the volume of MSW. Hydrothermal treatment is a novel MSW treatment technology that is compatible with high-moisture-content feedstock. It involves the thermal degradation of MSW in pressurized water or steam, which promotes the disintegration of cellulosic and polymer materials. Recent advances have shown effective MSW conversion into homogenous solid hydrochar with higher energy density. Alkali and chlorine content, which causes issues in combustors, was successfully removed due to the washing …

Liquefaction Potential Analysis Based On Nonlinear Ground Response On The Coastline Of Bengkulu City, Indonesia, Lindung Zalbuin Mase

Makara Journal of Technology

This paper presents the study of the seismic response and liquefaction potential of the coastal area of Bengkulu City during the September 2007 Sumatra earthquake. The study is conducted by collecting site investigation data (standard penetration test) and applying input motion to observe soil response. Synthetic ground motion is generated by considering the important aspects of earthquakes, including focal depth, epicenter, earthquake source, and site classification. The synthetized ground motion is then used as the input motion in the seismic response analysis. The results of this analysis are spectral acceleration and peak ground acceleration at each depth. The resulting spectral …

Comparison Of Phytoremediation And Filtration For Diamond-Mine-Tailings Water Treatment, M. Hafidhuddin Noor, Mijani Rahman, Akhmad Gazali, Nia Kania, Aulia Rahma, Erdina L.A. Rampun, Amalia E. Pratiwi, Muthia Elma

Makara Journal of Technology

The water pollution caused by diamond mine activities can kill aquatic life. In this work, we used phytoremediation and filtration to treat pond water polluted by the tailings of a diamond mine located in South Kalimantan, Indonesia. Einchhornia crassipes (water hyacinth) was utilized as the biomass for the phytoremediation process. Gravel (10–15 mm) and sand (0.1–1 mm) were used as filter media in the simple filtration setup, using an up-flow system (bottom to top). In the experiment, 16 L of diamond tailing water was poured into five phytoremediation reactors (each 60 L in volume), which were then tested over seven …

Extending Water Resources Performance Metrics To River Ecosystems, Belize A. Lane, J. Pablo Ortiz-Partida, Samuel Sandoval-Solis

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

A persistent challenge in integrated water management is the ability to accurately evaluate human and ecological tradeoffs. Two-dimensional (2D) hydraulic models are frequently used to evaluate water management alternatives concerning aquatic species physical habitat needs or preferences. Recent studies have assessed the timing or duration of suitable habitat conditions, but no standardized approach exists to integrate and interpret ecohydraulic model outputs within a water management framework. Such an approach is needed to maximize the information obtained from model outputs and to facilitate communication between river scientists and water managers. This study presents a general framework to aggregate and summarize 2D …