Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Residential Building Flood Risk Assessment And The Benefits Of Home Elevation, Ayat Al Assi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Evaluating flood risk is an essential component of understanding and increasing community resilience. A robust approach for quantifying flood risk in terms of average annual loss (AAL) in dollars is needed to provide valuable information for stakeholder decision-making inside and outside the special flood hazard area (SFHA, which corresponds to the 100-year floodplain). To further inform flood mitigation strategies, quantifying flood risk reduction with home elevation above an initial first-floor height (FFH₀) and the cost effectiveness of federal mitigation assistance for elevation are important steps to enhance awareness of the effect of elevation in reducing flood risk. …

Adsorptive–Photocatalytic Performance For Antibiotic And Personal Care Product Using Cu0.5Mn0.5Fe2O4, Chanat Chokejaroenrat, Chainarong Sakulthaew, Athaphon Angkaew, Apiladda Pattanateeradetch, Wuttinun Raksajit, Kanokwan Teingtham, Piyaporn Phansak, Pawee Klongvessa, Daniel D. Snow, Clifford E. Harris, Steven Comfort

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

The amount of antibiotics and personal care products entering local sewage systems and ultimately natural waters is increasing and raising concerns about long-term human health effects. We developed an adsorptive photocatalyst, Cu_0.5Mn_0.5Fe₂O₄ nanoparticles, utilizing co-precipitation and calcination with melamine, and quantified its efficacy in removing paraben and oxytetracycline (OTC). During melamine calcination, Cu_0.5Mn_0.5Fe₂O₄ recrystallized, improving material crystallinity and purity for the adsorptive–photocatalytic reaction. Kinetic experiments showed that all four parabens and OTC were removed within 120 and 45 min. We found that contaminant adsorption and reaction …

A Strong And Ductile Cobalt-Free Solid-Solution Fe30ni30mn30cr10 Multi-Principal Element Alloy From Hot Rolling, Hans Pommerenke, Jiaqi Duan, Nathan Curtis, Victor Delibera, Adam Bratten, Andrew Hoffman, Mario Buchely, Ronald O'Malley, Haiming Wen

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Most of the face-centered cubic (FCC) multi-principal element alloys (MPEAs) developed thus far contain cobalt. for many applications, it is either required or beneficial to avoid cobalt, since cobalt has long-term activation issue (for nuclear applications), is expensive, and is considered a critical material. in addition, FCC structured solid-solution MPEAs tend to have relatively low strength. an FCC solid-solution Fe30Ni30Mn30Cr10 (at %) MPEA was fabricated via arc melting, followed by homogenization at 1100 °C for 12 h. the alloy was hot rolled at 1100 °C with a total reduction of up to 97 %. the microstructure was characterized, and mechanical …

Optimizing The Membrane-Assisted Recovery Of Solids (Mars) Technology For Nutrient Removal And Recovery From Concentrated Waste Streams, Ben Yamin Hoque

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The effective management of nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, in decentralizedwastewater treatment environments is a pressing challenge. These nutrients pose significant risks to the environment and public health when discharged into water bodies, while their recovery and reuse can help alleviate nutrient shortages in various industries, including agriculture. Conventional biological treatment methods used in centralized facilities are not suitable for decentralized systems due to operational complexities and space limitations. Chemical treatment mechanisms, such as adsorption, ion exchange, precipitation, and air-stripping, offer potential solutions but are accompanied by challenges like high costs and logistical issues. Therefore, finding a sustainable and …

Exploration Of Shared Passenger Urban Air Mobility – Integrated Network Design, Operation Scheduling And System Configuration, Zhiqiang Wu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Urban air mobility (UAM) is an emerging concept proposed in recent years that uses electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOLs). UAM is expected to offer an alternative way of transporting passengers and goods in urban areas with significantly improved mobility by making use of low-altitude airspace. Considering the high capital investment of eVTOLs and relative high fee of using UAM passenger service, a viable UAM format is shared passenger service. Such a service is usually station-based, i.e., with vertiport located in popular sites where potential passengers can access. To understand the viability of such use cases, the vertiport owners …

Viscoelastic Properties Of Fresh Cement Paste: Measuring Procedures And Influencing Parameters, Ammar Yahia, Arnaud Perrot, Dimitri Feys, Kamal Khayat, Mohammed Sonebi, Shiho Kawashima, Wolfram Schmidt

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Fresh cement pastes behave as viscoelastic materials below the flow onset. The measurements of viscoelastic properties of fresh cement paste provide valuable insight into the dispersion of solid particles as well as the hydration kinetics at early age and its influence on the structural evolution and solidification behavior at quasi-static conditions. Monitoring the development of viscoelastic properties of fresh cement paste using dynamic oscillatory shear measurements can also elucidate the working mechanisms of chemical admixtures. These properties are efficient indicators to guide mixture proportion design and are necessary to understand the rheology and stability of concrete. In this paper, the …

Exploring The Determinants Of Organic Matter Bioavailability Through Substrate-Explicit Thermodynamic Modeling, Firnaaz Ahamed, Yaqi You, Amy Burgin, James C. Stegen, Timothy D. Scheibe, Hyun-Seob Song

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Microbial decomposition of organic matter (OM) in river corridors is a major driver of nutrient and energy cycles in natural ecosystems. Recent advances in omics technologies enabled high-throughput generation of molecular data that could be used to inform biogeochemical models. With ultrahigh-resolution OM data becoming more readily available, in particular, the substrate-explicit thermodynamic modeling (SXTM) has emerged as a promising approach due to its ability to predict OM degradation and respiration rates from chemical formulae of compounds. This model implicitly assumes that all detected organic compounds are bioavailable, and that aerobic respiration is driven solely by thermodynamics. Despite promising demonstrations …

Experimental Study: The Effect Of Pore Shape, Geometrical Heterogeneity, And Flow Rate On The Repetitive Two-Phase Fluid Transport In Microfluidic Porous Media, Seunghee Kim, Jingtao Zhang, Sangjin Ryu

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Geologic subsurface energy storage, such as porous-media compressed-air energy storage (PM-CAES) and underground hydrogen storage (UHS), involves the multi-phase fluid transport in structurally disordered or heterogeneous porous media (e.g., soils and rocks). Furthermore, such multi-phase fluid transport is likely to repeatedly occur due to successive fluid injections and extractions, thus, resulting in cyclic drainage–imbibition processes. To complement our preceding study, we conducted a follow-up study with microfluidic pore-network devices with a square solid shape (Type II) to further advance our understanding on the effect of the pore shape (aspect ratio, Type I: 5–6 > Type II: ~1), pore-space heterogeneity (coefficient of …

Uncovering The Spatio-Temporal Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Shared E-Scooter Usage: A Spatial Panel Model, Farzana Mehzabin Tuli, Arna Nishita Nithila, Suman Mitra

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study examines the spatio-temporal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on shared e-scooter usage by leveraging two years (2019 and 2020) of daily shared micromobility data from Austin, Texas. We employed a series of random effects spatial-autoregressive model with a spatially autocorrelated error (SAC) to examine the differences and similarities in determinants of e-scooter usage during regular and pandemic periods and to identify factors contributing to the changes in e-scooter use during the Pandemic. Model results provided strong evidence of spatial autocorrelation in the e-scooter trip data and found a spatial negative spillover effect in the 2020 model. The key …

Improved Burned Area Mapping Using Monotemporal Landsat-9 Imagery And Convolutional Shift-Transformer, Seyd Teymoor Seydi, Mojtaba Sadegh

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Satellite imagery, specifically Landsat, have been widely used for mapping and monitoring wildfire burned areas. The new Landsat-9 satellite – with higher radiometric resolution compared to its predecessors, and improved temporal resolution when combined with Landsat-8 (∼8 days) – enables a wide range of applications, particularly burned area mapping (BAM). We propose a novel deep learning BAM model that leverages the strengths of the convolutional layers for deep feature generation from Landsat-9 imagery and shift-transformer block for burned area classification. The performance of the model is evaluated in five large fire case studies across the globe. BAM results are also …

Load Effects Of Truck Platooning On Existing Bridges In Oregon, Patricia Oleson

Civil and Environmental Engineering Master's Project Reports

Truck Platooning (TP) involves managing multiple trucks closely together to reduce aerodynamic drag. While TP offers benefits such as fuel savings, emission reductions, and enhanced safety, it raises concerns for existing infrastructure. This study reviews literature on TP and conducts bridge analyses comparing representative truck platoon configurations allowed under Oregon law with current truck loadings. It also explores the effects of truck head spacing and bridge span lengths, utilizing the research results to calculate rating factors using real-world case studies. The objective is to identify truck platoon configurations that may exceed acceptable load levels for Oregon bridges. The findings will …

Design Of Bamboo Reinforced Concrete Beams Considering Variability In Tensile Strength Of Bamboo, Bibek Bhardwaj, Michael Stoner, Weichiang Pang

Publications

In recent years, the price of steel has soared, making steel reinforcement in concrete structures unaffordable for households in low-income countries. Seismic activities in low-income households, particularly those in developing countries, pose a significant threat to life and property to unreinforced concrete structures. The application of bamboo as an alternative to steel in reinforced concrete is still in its early stages of development. Unlike steel, bamboo is a natural material, and its structural properties vary greatly based on species, location, age, and geometric properties. Thus, the design of bamboo-reinforced concrete involves more uncertainties than steel-reinforced concrete. This research investigates the …

An Open-Source, Semisupervised Water End-Use Disaggregation And Classification Tool, Nour A. Attallah, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, Camilo J. Bastidas Pacheco

Outreach

Research Objective/Summary: Research on individual household water consumption is vital to water management and conservation approaches. Despite a significant number of papers published on end-use disaggregation tools, reproduction and further study of results on water-use behavior is difficult because the data and code are not easily accessible. In order to fulfill this need for open and reproducible tools, we present a new, semisupervised, non-intrusive water end-use disaggregation and classification tool.

Prediction Of Compressive Strength And Evaluation Of Different Theoretical Standards And Proposed Models Of Brick Columns Confined With Frp, Frcm, Or Srg System, Zuhair Al-Jaberi, John J. Myers

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Strength Capacity of Confined Masonry Column is One of the Topics that Need to Be Studied. in This Study, the Efficiency of using Different Types of Advanced Composite (Non-Corrosive Materials) Such as Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP), Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Matrix (FRCM), or Steel Reinforced Grout (SRG) in Confining Masonry Columns is Investigated. a Wide Range of Experimental Database of Masonry Column Specimens Has Been Collected from the Results that Available in Scientific Literatures. Different Theoretical Standards and Proposed Models that Used to Predict the Capacity of Masonry Columns Confined with FRP and FRCM Are Evaluated based on Collected Experimental …

Modeling Cyanotoxin Production, Fate, And Transport In Surface Water Bodies Using Ce-Qual-W2, Bernadel Rose Hintz Garstecki, Scott A. Wells

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Cyanobacteria are frequently associated with forming toxic blooms. The toxins produced by cyanobacteria, cyanotoxins, are harmful to both humans and animals. Rising temperatures due to global climate change are expected to increase the occurrence of cyanobacteria, and it is vital that we protect our drinking water supplies and natural water resources. Modeling the production, fate, and transport of these toxins is an important step in limiting exposure to them and evaluating management strategies to mitigate their impact. The research provided here offers an overview of some of the main cyanotoxins of concern and presents preliminary models for the transport and …

Automated Pavement Construction Inspection Using Uncrewed Aerial Systems (Uas)—Hot Mixed Asphalt (Hma) Temperature Segregation, Reihaneh Samsami, Amlan Mukherjee, Colin Brooks

Michigan Tech Publications

Temperature segregation in Hot Mixed Asphalt (HMA) pavement construction leads to performance problems, such as reduced fatigue life. During construction, Quality Assurance (QA) inspection procedures are required to evaluate the pavement condition and detect the segregated areas. In traditional HMA highway construction inspection processes, temperature differences are investigated manually, by sampling the HMA behind the paver. In these processes, inspectors are required to work adjacent to traffic and alongside moving or backing equipment. These processes do not provide a complete temperature profile of the mat, endanger the inspectors’ safety, and require on-site experienced inspectors. An Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) enables …

On The Development Of Part-Scale Fem Modeling For Laser Powder Bed Fusion Of Aisi 316l Stainless Steel With Experimental Verification, Muhammad Arif Mahmood, Asif Ur Rehman, M. Mustafa Azeem, Abedalkader Alkhouzaam, Marwan Khraisheh

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), the effects of operating conditions on thermal gradients and residual stresses are the utmost challenges that require significant attention. The magnitudes of residual stress in the printed layers, as well as the distribution along the printed components, have not been well explained for LPBF parts. In this study, a 3D finite element thermo-mechanical model has been established to investigate the effect of operating conditions on thermal distribution, melt pool evolution, residual stress distribution, and part distortion. The printed AISI 316L stainless steel cubes have been characterized experimentally. The results showed a proportional correlation among …

Transportation Infrastructure Needs In The Central Appalachian Basin To Support Core-Cm, Bryan Gibson, Robin Baskette, Doug Kreis

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

With demand for coal from the Central Appalachian Basin waning, coalitions and organizations throughout the region have sought to diversify the region’s economy. However, the potential exists to use coal and coal-based resources to produce new and innovative products and kick start economic growth in the basin. This includes carbon ore, rare earth and critical minerals (CORE-CM), other minerals, and waste streams. If the region is to take advantage of these economic growth opportunities, transportation infrastructure must be developed and maintained in a sound condition. Reliable roads, highways, and bridges provide rural areas with access to capital, labor, and markets …

Application Of Artificial Neural Network (Ann) In Development Of Prediction Models For Pavement Performance And Material Properties, Prashanta Kumar Acharjee

Civil Engineering Theses

This dissertation presents the development and application of Artificial Neural Network (ANN)- based prediction models for Dynamic Modulus (E*), Dynamic Shear Modulus (|Gb*|, Phase Angle (b), Soil-Water Characteristics Curve (SWCC) parameters, and International Roughness Index (IRI). The IRI prediction model considering climatic and traffic conditions of Texas with data from the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) database with R 2 = 0.92 can be utilized by Local transportation agencies. An E* prediction model with three neurons, using 7400 data points obtained from 346 mixtures with R2=0.82 can bypass the need for laboratory tests. ANN-based |Gb*| and b prediction models were also …

Development Of Reduced Cementitious Materials Concrete (Rcmc) Mixtures For Bridge Decks And Rails, Soumitra Das

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Right after construction, drying shrinkage of restrained concrete bridge decks and rails causes early-age cracking that eventually leads to delamination and spalling of concrete due to insertion of water and chemicals, and corrosion of reinforcing steel. The main objective of this research is to control early-age shrinkage cracking by reducing cementitious material content in the bridge deck and rail concrete mixtures. Several reduced cementitious materials concrete (RCMC) mixtures were developed by optimizing aggregate particle packing and conducting overall performance evaluation. This evaluation was carried out in three phases: The first phase investigated the feasibility of new RCMC mixtures by testing …

Aeroponic System Optimization For Butterhead Lettuce Growth And Future Sustainability Using Flow Blurring Atomization, Taylor J. Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The global population has grown by 6 billion people over the last century and is trending toward 9.7 billion people by the year 2050. Agriculture accounts for 70% of global fresh water usage. Technology must be developed to accommodate the increase of food production demanded by the growing global population and the subsequent increase in water usage. Aeroponic technology is a water-efficient vertical farming technology that can reduce water usage by 90% by suspending plant roots in air within a controlled chamber and supplying atomized droplets of a water-nutrient solution directly to the roots.

This study simultaneously tests six droplet …

Construction Semantics And Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (Gpt) Language Models, Ankur Mitra, Ahmed Hassan, Mark Mulville

Articles

The article explores the impact of ChatGPT, a powerful language model developed by OpenAI, on the construction industry. ChatGPT, with its ability to provide contextually accurate responses to a wide range of queries, has the potential to enhance safety, scheduling, and knowledge dissemination in construction. While it shows promise in tasks like hazard recognition and project scheduling, the article emphasizes the need for cautious optimism and human oversight. The construction industry could benefit from ChatGPT's digital assistance to boost productivity and address skills shortages, but it is essential to recognize the value of human expertise alongside AI advancements.

Using Machine Learning And Distributed Hydrologic Modeling To Predict Soil Texture, Surface Soil Moisture And Evapotranspiration In Jornada Experimental Range, Southwestern U.S., Jorge Andres Mayo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In water-limited ecosystems, detailed knowledge of the soil, vegetation, and atmosphere interactions is critical to understand the processes that control the partitioning of energy, water fluxes, and biogeochemical cycles within the critical zone. This Master's thesis is divided into two main contributing sections. The first, is on the use of machine learning to reconstruct missing soil type information, and the second, on the calibration and validation of a physically-based distributed hydrological model to estimate soil moisture and evapotranspiration within the Jornada Experimental Range of the U.S. in southern New Mexico. For the first contribution, three explainable, shallow machine-learning techniques are …

Initial Investigation Of Using The Waste Rubber Tires As A New Sustainable Material For Electric Conductive Rigid Pavement, Islam Radwan

Theses and Dissertations

The accumulation of snow on roadway surfaces has the potential to result in deadly accidents and financial damage. Traditional de-icing procedures, which include the use of chemicals or salt and the use of heavy machinery, may have a negative effect on the environment and the structural integrity of highway infrastructure systems, and they are not sustainable at all. In addition, these methods are considered labor-intensive and dangerous, especially in crowded areas. The use of heated pavement systems (HPS), which can be in the form of hydronic (HHPS) or electrically conductive concrete (ECON), has gained popularity in recent years as a …

Impacts Of Land Use On Stormwater Runoff In The Lower Rio Grande Valley And Improving Long Term Municipal Stormwater Management Systems, Maria Vanessa Pruneda

Theses and Dissertations

Exponentially noticeable growth in population and land development in the Lower Rio Grande Valley has directly influenced growth in urbanization. Urbanization is the leading cause for lower pervious cover, and the increase in storm water runoff. The increase of storm water runoff leads to excess flooding areas and higher peak flows. The overflow flows freely and is exposed to contaminants, affecting the consumption and use factors. The changes of land use have a direct relationship with impervious cover limitations and individual site retentions. This study will assess the relationship between stormwater quantity and land use in the Lower Rio Grande …

Utrgv Edinburg Campus Two-Dimensional Flood Modeling For Development Of Flood Inundation Map, Roxana Tello

Theses and Dissertations

Severe flooding is a natural hazard worldwide, potentially subjecting people to life threatening situations and leaving infrastructure vulnerable to structural damage or complete destruction. The common threat of flooding poses constant challenges for state and local agencies in identifying flood risks and proposing the necessary mitigation improvements. Developing hydraulic models to predict the hydrological interactions and identify areas at risk is a beneficial tool for urban planning. The Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) is a rapid growing region in South Texas along the border of Mexico and west of the Gulf of Mexico. The LRGV has historically suffered through various …

A Data-Driven Method For Damage Detection In An Open Deck Steel Truss Railroad Bridge Under The Moving Train Load, Mahesh Pokhrel

Theses and Dissertations

Open-Deck (OD) steel truss railroad bridges are one of the most common types of railroad bridges in the United States. They are, however, significantly vulnerable to the dynamic effects of moving train load. In the long run, these dynamic effects cause fatigue damage to the structural members. The damage in most of the railroad bridges are monitored by visual inspections which are sometimes unreliable and inconsistent due to human error. This study explores the identification and classification of damage to an open deck railroad bridge from both time-domain (statistical features) and time-frequency domain features (Hilbert-Huang Transform) extracted through acceleration response …

Building Services Engineering July/August 2023

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Uncertainty In Overturning Of Precariously Balanced Rocks Due To Basal Contact, M. Khalid Saifullah, Christine E. Wittich

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Precariously balanced rocks (PBRs) are a type of naturally occurring freestanding structure that provides valuable information to constrain seismic hazard at return periods which are important for critical facilities such as nuclear power plants and nuclear repositories. Exposure ages have been established to be in excess of 10,000–30,000 years, which is why precarious rocks are one of the only available means to validate seismic hazard associated with long return periods. One critical component for constraining seismic hazard in this way is the overturning estimate of a given precarious rock as a function of earthquake intensity. However, current state-of-the-art methods for …

Development Of Intensity Duration Frequency Curve Of The Lower Rio Grande Valley, Binaya Poudel

Theses and Dissertations

Section 1: This chapter incorporates extensive information about the concept of Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) curves, their historical development and usage, specific focus on the Lower Rio Grande Valley, and the importance of using a comprehensive 32-year data set from 1990-2022 to develop these curves.

Section 2: This chapter provides detailed information about the rigorous comparison of the developed IDF curves with previous ones, where past IDF curves were developed using an empirical formula method. The research presented here employs the Gumbel distribution method, providing a fresh perspective and potentially more accurate predictions of future weather extremes.

Section 3: This chapter outlines …