Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Performance-Based Design Of Rc Beams Using An Equivalent Standard Fire, Robert T. Kuehnen, Maged Youssef, Salah El-Din F. El-Fitiany

Civil and Environmental Engineering Publications

The design of buildings for fire events is essential to ensure occupant safety. Supplementary to simple prescriptive methods, performance-based fire design can be applied to achieve a greater level of safety and flexibility in design. To make performance-based fire design more accessible, a time equivalent method can be used to approximate a given natural fire event using a single standard fire with a specific duration. Doing so, allows for natural fire events to be linked to the wealth of existing data from the standard fire scenario.

In this paper, the use of an existing time equivalent method is reviewed and …

Experimental And Numerical Structural Assessment Of Transparent And Tinted Glass During Fire Exposure, A Vedrtnam, C Bedon, Maged A. Youssef, M Wamiq, Amer Sabsabi, S Chaturvedi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Publications

Transparency, illumination, aesthetic and energy requirements have considerably increased the use of glass in modern high-rise buildings. During fire exposure, fracture and shattering of windows and facades accelerate the spread and severity of fire, which increases the risk for the occupants and the amount of structural damage. This paper aims at analyzing the effect of non-uniform thermal gradients on the flexural capacity of ordinary glass panels. Both transparent and tinted glass panels are considered to account for widely-used glass compositions. The bending response of fire-damaged glass panels is experimentally explored considering different durations of thermal exposure. The thermal breakage due …

Seismic Performance Of Modular Steel-Braced Frames Utilizing Superelastic Shape Memory Alloy Bolts In The Vertical Module Connections, Papia Sultana, Maged A. Youssef

Civil and Environmental Engineering Publications

In modular construction, individual modules are constructed at a controlled industrial environment before being transported to site. They are then connected horizontally and vertically to form a structure. The vertical connections can be achieved by welding or bolting the columns of stacked modules. This study investigates the seismic performance of modular steel-braced frames (MSBFs) connected vertically using superelastic shape memory alloy (SMA) bolts. The study also identifies the required locations of SMA connections, in a typical MSBF, to optimize its seismic performance in terms of maximum inter-story drift (MID), maximum residual inter-story residual drift (MRID), and damage scheme.

Lake Volume Data Analyses: A Deep Look Into The Shrinking And Expansion Patterns Of Lakes Azuei And Enriquillo, Hispaniola, Mahrokh Moknatian, Michael Piasecki

Publications and Research

This paper presents the development of an evenly spaced volume time series for Lakes Azuei and Enriquillo both located on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. The time series is derived from an unevenly spaced Landsat imagery data set which is then exposed to several imputation methods to construct the gap filled uniformly‐spaced time series so it can be subjected to statistical analyses methods. The volume time series features both gradual and sudden changes the latter of which is attributed to North Atlantic cyclone activity. Relevant cyclone activity is defined as an event passing within 80 km and having regional monthly …

Durability Performance Of Geopolymer Concrete Beams And Columns Exposed To Hygrothermal Environment, Najeb Hasen Sh Sawsi

Wayne State University Dissertations

Among the most important advances of research and technological development for viable applications of coal-fired fly ash, the development of new inorganic polymeric materials, named alkali activated cement or “Geopolymers”, seems to gain increasing attention during the last twenty years. The present investigation intends to study the effect of hot weather environments (either by changing relative humidity and temperature is kept constant, or by changing temperature but relative humidity is maintained same) on the durability performance of geopolymer concrete beams and columns. The study include the long term influence of moisture, high temperature, and combined hygrothermal conditions on the mechanical …

An Integrated Computational And Experimental Study To Investigate Staphylococcus Aureus Metabolism, Mohammad Mazharul Islam, Vinai C. Thomas, Matthew Van Beek, Jong-Sam Ahn, Abdulelah A. Alqarzaee, Chunyi Zhou, Paul D. Fey, Kenneth W. Bayles, Rajib Saha

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Staphylococcus aureus is a metabolically versatile pathogen that colonizes nearly all organs of the human body. A detailed and comprehensive knowledge of staphylococcal metabolism is essential to understand its pathogenesis. To this end, we have reconstructed and experimentally validated an updated and enhanced genome-scale metabolic model of S. aureus USA300_FPR3757. The model combined genome annotation data, reaction stoichiometry, and regulation information from biochemical databases and previous strain-specific models. Reactions in the model were checked and fixed to ensure chemical balance and thermodynamic consistency. To further refine the model, growth assessment of 1920 nonessential mutants from the Nebraska Transposon Mutant Library …

Design And Installation Of Post-Installed Reinforcements: A State-Of-The-Art Review, Daniel T. W. Looi, Yuen Fai, Augustus Lee, Ray K. L. Su, Yanlong Zhang

Staff Publications

Post-installed reinforcement (PIR) helps facilitate retrofitting works, mitigate misplaced reinforcement problems, as well as support newly cast concrete members such as modular integrated construction. However, it has not been holistically addressed in major international reinforced concrete (RC) design codes. Nonetheless, based on established design philosophy and associated failure modes, the cast-in reinforcement design method in RC can be extended to design qualified PIR systems. The qualification of PIR system can be referenced to AC 308 (2016), European Assessment Document (EAD) 330087 (2018) and EAD 330499 (2017) in the US and Europe, respectively. In Hong Kong, PIR is conservatively limited to …

Civil Engineering Research In Ireland 2020: Conference Proceedings, Kieran Ruane, Vesna Jaksic, Bidisha Ghosh, Magdalena Hajdukiewicz, Ciaran Hanley, Niall Holmes, Jennifer Keenahan, Zili Li, Patrick Mcgetrick, Ted Mckenna, Mary Moloney, Vikram Pakrashi, Niamh Power

Publications

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020: Conference Proceedings.

Ce 432-102: Structural Steel Design, Raj Navalurkar

Civil and Environmental Engineering Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Mech 236-004: Engineering Mechanics: Dynamics, Rajib Moral

Civil and Environmental Engineering Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Mech 236-002: Engineering Mechanics: Dynamics, Rajib Moral

Civil and Environmental Engineering Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Thei Student Applied Research Presentations Sarp 2020, Research Office, Technological And Higher Education Institute Of Hong Kong

THEi Student Applied Research Presentations (SARP)

No abstract provided.

Building Information Modelling For Building Services Engineering: Benefits, Barriers And Conducive Measures, Wai Yee Betty Chiu, Joseph H.K. Lai

Faculty of Science & Technology (THEi)

Purpose – Mandating the use of building information modelling (BIM) in building projects has sprawled, but the uptake of BIM in building services engineering (BSE) remains sluggish. The purpose of this paper is to explore how to achieve wider adoption of BIM in BSE. Design/methodology/approach – Through an extensive literature review, the benefits of, barriers to and measures conducive to, using BIM for BSE were identified and classified. Built upon the review and a focus group meeting, a questionnaire was devised for an industry-wide survey in Hong Kong and the survey data were processed by statistical analyses. Findings – On …

Investigating Factors Affecting Road Freight Overloading Through The Integrated Use Of Blr And Cart: A Case Study In China, Yikai Chen, Kai Wang, Yu Zhang, Renjia Luo, Shujun Yu, Qin Shi, Wenting Hu

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Overloading of road freight vehicles accelerates road damage, creates unfair competition in the transport market, and increases safety risk. There is a dearth of research on the mining of data of highway Freight Weight (FW), and this paper therefore aims to discover factors affecting road freight overloading based on highway FW data, with a view of developing strategies to mitigate such occurrences. A comprehensive sampling survey of road freight transportation was conducted in Anhui Province (China). Vehicle Characteristics (VC), Operation Mode (OM), and transportation information from a total of 3248 trucks were collected. In order to take advantage of the …

Continuous Otm 33a Analysis Of Controlled Releases Of Methane With Various Time Periods, Data Rates And Wind Filters, Robert S. Heltzel, Mohammed T. Zaki, Aron K. Gebreslase, Omar I. Abdul-Aziz, Derek R. Johnson

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Other test method (OTM) 33A has been used to quantify emissions from natural gas sites since it was introduced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The method relies on point source Gaussian (PSG) assumptions to estimate emissions rates from a targeted site or source. However, the method often results in low accuracy (typically ±70%, even under conducive conditions). These accuracies were verified with controlled-release experiments. Typically, controlled releases were performed for short periods (15–20 min) under atmospheric conditions that were ideal for effective plume transport. We examined three methane release rates from three distances over various periods of time ranging …

Aqueous And Oil Products From Hydrothermal Liquefaction Of Manure Digestate, Kenzie Burns

Honors Theses

Hydrothermal liquefaction is a promising thermochemical waste-to-energy (WtE) technology for conversion of wet biomasses, such as manure and digested manure, into value-added products, namely energy-rich biofuel and a nutrient-rich aqueous product. WtE technologies can address environmental issues relating to overproduction of organic wastes and increasing dependence on fossil fuels, which leads to climate change. HTL has not been implemented on a commercial scale, in part due to the uncertainty regarding specific reaction pathways for different feedstocks and ideal conditions for production of the most valuable products.

This research investigates the compositions of the aqueous and oil products from HTL of …

Evaluating The Performance And Impacts Of Seawater Regeneration In An Anion Exchange Process, Daniel Whalen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This research investigated the use of seawater regeneration for anion exchange (AIX) processes. Seawater and salt-supplemented seawater regeneration of chloride-form anion resin were evaluated in regard to (1) operational performance efficiency of sulfate and natural organic matter removal, (2) competing exchange of bromide during regeneration, and (3) brominated disinfection by-product (DBP) formation due to bromide leakage. The first component involved bench-scale research that revealed that seawater-based regeneration led to bromide leakage that could be mitigated to an average of 1.82 mg/L using 1% salt-supplemented seawater, and 1.25 mg/L using 3% salt-supplemented seawater. Conceptual cost comparisons revealed that the use of …

Chemically Stabilized Oil-In-Water Emulsion Separation Using A Custom Aquaporin-Based Polyethersulfone (Pes) Forward Osmosis Membrane System, Annmarie Ricchino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The stability of oil-in-water emulsions is enhanced by the presence of surfactants in the water, thereby increasing difficulty of remediation. In this study, mineral oil and a standard bilge mix (SBM) were used as model oils for forward osmosis (FO) performance evaluation and two different high-concentration feed solutions (FS) were tested: 10,000 and 100,000 ppm oil/surfactant (9:1 Oil/Surfactant, wt %). It was hypothesized that the charge-charge interactions between the surfactant portion of the micelles and the membrane would play an important role in membrane fouling. Therefore, the effects of both an anionic surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate [SDS]) and a nonionic …

Climatic And Topologic Controls On The Complexity Of River Networks, Sevil Ranjbar Moshfeghi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The emergence and evolution of channel networks are controlled by the competition between the hillslopes and fluvial processes on the landscape. Investigating the geomorphic and topologic properties of these networks is important for developing predictive models describing the network dynamics under changing environment as well as for quantifying the roles of processes in creating distinct patterns of channel networks. In this dissertation, the response of landscapes to changing climatic forcing via numerical-modeling and field observations was investigated. A new framework was proposed to evaluate the complexity of catchments using two different representations of channel networks. The structural complexity was studied …

Safety Evaluation Of Innovative Intersection Designs: Diverging Diamond Interchanges And Displaced Left-Turn Intersections, Ahmed Abdelrahman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Diverging diamond interchanges (DDIs) and Displaced left-turn intersections (DLTs) are designed to enhance the operational performance of conventional intersections that are congested due to heavy left-turn traffic volumes. Since drivers are not familiar with these types of intersections, there is a need to evaluate their safety performance to validate their effect, and to estimate reliable and representative Crash Modification Factors (CMFs). The safety evaluation was conducted based on three common safety assessment methods, which are before-and-after study with comparison group, Empirical Bayes before-and-after method, and cross-sectional analysis. Furthermore, since DLTs showed poor safety performance, the study also investigated the operational …

Development Of An Ndt Tool For In-Situ Assessment Of Prestress Loss, Bibo Zhong, Jinying Zhu, George Morcous

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

The research objective is to develop a non-destructive testing (NDT) method to evaluate the prestress loss in prestressed concrete bridge girders using ultrasonic waves. The work principle is based on acoustoelastic effect - ultrasonic wave velocity varies with stress level in prestressed concrete. A self-reference test setup was proposed to measure wave velocity in two orthogonal directions (prestress and unstressed directions) in the girder. This setup will be able to reduce effects of material variation and temperature change.

The concept was first validated on small concrete specimens (cylinders and beams) in laboratory. A signal analysis algorithm was developed to reliably …

High‐ And Low‐Molecular‐Weight Chitosan Act As Adjuvants During Single‐Dose Influenza A Virus Protein Vaccination Through Distinct Mechanisms, Anna T. Lampe, Eric Farris, Deborah M. Brown, Angela K. Pannier

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The investigation of new adjuvants is essential for the development of efficacious vaccines. Chitosan (CS), a derivative of chitin, has been shown to act as an adjuvant, improving vaccine‐induced immune responses. However, the effect of CS molecular weight (MW) on this adjuvanticity has not been investigated, despite MW having been shown to impact CS biological properties. Here, two MW variants of CS were in- vestigated for their ability to enhance vaccine‐elicited immune responses in vitro and in vivo, using a single‐dose influenza A virus (IAV) protein vaccine model. Both low‐ molecular‐weight (LMW) and high‐molecular‐weight (HMW) CS‐induced interferon regulatory factor pathway …

Development Of Amine-Functionalized Mesoporous Alumina For Radioiodine Removal From Water, Mansour Mohammed Alsalbokh

Masters Theses

“Radioactive materials have spread due to careless disposal and nuclear disasters. Some radionuclides can exist in an aqueous media, like radioactive iodine. As a result, in this work amine-functionalized mesoporous alumina was developed to adsorb radioactive iodine from the liquid phase. Bismuth was incorporated, using a wet impregnation method, to test it as a possible silver replacement. Amine grafting was used to functionalize the surface of the mesoporous alumina. All materials prepared in this work were characterized by N₂ physisorption, FTIR and TGA to determine the textural properties, surface functionality, and amine loading. The synthesized materials were tested for …

Application Of Ionizing Radiation In Wastewater Treatment: An Overview, Yung-Tse Hung

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

© 2019 by the authors. Technological applications of nuclear science and technology in different sectors have proved their reliabilities and sustainability over decades. These applications have supported various human civilization needs, ranging from power generation to industrial, medical, and environmental applications. Environmental applications of radiation sources are used to support decision making processes in many fields; including the detection and analysis of pollutant transport, water resources management, and treatment of municipal and industrial wastewaters. This work reviewed recent advances in the research and applications of ionizing radiation in treating different wastewater euents. The main objective of the work is to …

The Integration Between Strategy Formulation And Implementationin Construction Contracting Firms In Ireland, Ahmed Hassan

Doctoral

The role of the construction sector in Ireland is critical in terms of the economic and social development however the economic, competitive, and regulatory business environment present a myriad of complexities to firms operating within the sector. The importance of strategic planning for business survival and prosperity has been well documented over several decades of research but there remains a paucity of empirical evidence to determine the in strategic decision-making process under these volatile environmental conditions.This study addresses the perceptible gap in existing knowledge by investigating the characteristics of the strategy strategic decision-making process, strategic choices, and implementation process in …

Bias And Sensitivity Of Nonlinear Models For Seismic Response Of Ordinary Standard Bridges, Andres Rodriguez Caballero

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The implementation of nonlinear structural analysis under large deformation demands has enabled more realistic response prediction in comparison with the classical linear approaches. However, the sensitivity to modeling assumptions, element and material formulations, implementations, and parameter selection may lead to unreliable results. While previous works have led to a better understanding of how to best model nonlinear static responses of bridge components and systems, the introduction of dynamic loads and the corresponding material hysteresis presents an additional source of variability in the nonlinear responses. The current research involves the analysis of two ordinary standard bridges in California under seismic load …

Smartphone Sensor-Based Pedestrian Activity Recognition For P2v Communication And Warning System, Dhrubo Hasan Chowdhury

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The ubiquity of smartphones has made a remarkable influence on everyone's day to day life. Variety of useful built-in sensors provide smartphones with a convenient floor for data collection and analysis. Application development based on the user's location and movement is not a difficult task nowadays. But injuries and deaths due to smartphone-distracted movement on roadways is on the increase. This study explores the capabilities of smartphone inertial sensors for pedestrian activity recognition. Smartphone distracted movements can be predicted from the associated pedestrian's posture, thus inertial sensors can provide effective solution for this specific task. Volunteers were asked to perform …

Traffic Speed Prediction And Mobility Behavior Analysis Using On-Demand Ride-Hailing Service Data, Jiechao Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Providing accurate traffic speed prediction is essential for the success of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) deployments. Accurate traffic speed prediction allows traffic managers take proper countermeasures when emergent changes happen in the transportation network. In this thesis, we present a computationally less expensive machine learning approach XGBoost to predict the future travel speed of a selected sub-network in Beijing's transportation network. We perform different experiments for predicting speed in the network from future 1 min to 20 min. We compare the XGBoost approach against other well-known machine learning and statistical models such as linear regression and decision tree, gradient boosting …

Prediction Of Pedestrians' Red Light Violations Using Deep Learning, Shile Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Pedestrians are regarded as Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs). Each year, thousands of pedestrians' deaths are caused by traffic crashes, which take up 16% of the total road fatalities and injuries in the U.S. (FHWA, 2018). Crashes can happen if there are interactions between VRUs and motorized transportation. And pedestrians' unexpected crossings, such as red-light violations at the signalized intersections, would expose them to motorized transportation and cause potential collisions. This thesis is intended to predict the pedestrians' red-light violation behaviors at the signalized crosswalks based on an LSTM (Long Short-term Memory) neural network. With video data collected from real traffic …

Ultraviolet Irradiation Combined With Chlorine Dioxide Pre-Oxidation For Disinfection By-Product Control, Paula Campesino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The use of ultraviolet (UV) light and chlorine dioxide (ClO2) as an advanced oxidation process (AOP) has been investigated at the bench-scale to understand the effects of their use on disinfection by-product (DBP) formation potential (FP) in chlorinated groundwater (GW) and surface water (SW) supplies. Two GWs and two SWs of varying qualities were subject to a series of AOP treatment sequences at the bench scale: sodium hypochlorite, to serve as a baseline; ClO2-Cl2, UV-Cl2, and UV-ClO2-Cl2. In these treatment sequences, Cl2 is used as a primary and secondary disinfectant. Several water quality parameters were measured throughout the experiments, including …