Civil Engineering Commons^™

Using Coupled Eulerian And Lagrangian Grids To Model Explosive Interactions With Buildings, Braden Lusk, William P. Schonberg, Jason Baird, Robert S. Woodley, Warren Noll

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents the development of a computational model that can be used to study the interactions between structures and detonating explosives contained within them. This model was developed as part of an effort to develop a rubble characterization model for use in AmmoSIM, an agent based urban tactical decision aid (UTDA) software for weapon-target pairing. The rubble pile created following the collapse of a building in a combat situation can significantly impact mission accomplishment, particularly in the area of movement and maneuver. The information provided by AmmoSIM will enable both platoon level and command center staff to make informed …

Rapid Bridge Replacement: Processes, Techniques, And Needs For Improvements, Yong Bai, William R. Burkett

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

The terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 and subsequent potential threats to the United States transportation systems have presented an urgent need to develop emergency response plans in order to quickly react to the possible consequences of an extreme event. Highway bridges, as critical components of the nation’s transportation network, have received increased attention. To respond to the potential threats on highway bridges, a research project was conducted to identify rapid bridge replacement processes, techniques, and needs for improvements. To achieve the research objectives, the research team studied three cases of previous bridge replacements following extreme events. By studying these …

Bs News

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Expressions For Bond Stress Of A Tension Splice In Steel Reinforced Concrete, Jkumar Gopalarathnam

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

The aim of the research is to develop expressions for the bond stress at a tension splice in reinforced concrete. Many experiments have been conducted inorder to ascertain the relationship between appropriate variables and develop an expression to evaluate the bond stress. The scope of this research is to use existing experimental data to establish a relation and develop an expression. Before the preprocessing begins, the data are organized into different categories such as bottom, top and side bars, and bars with transverse reinforcement. The existing experimental data is evaluated for statistical validation. It is then subjected to individual and …

Bs News

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Bs News

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Characterization Of Cemented And Fiber-Reinforced Rap Aggregate Materials For Base/ Sub-Base Applications, Carlos A. Ordonez

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

The engineering product known as RAP is a bonded base and sub-base material produced by the process of blending crushed recycled construction and demolition waste and debris to specified gradation requirements, and by bonding these with a fine silica Portland cement matrix at optimum moisture for compaction density. RAP has a great potential as an economically, environmentally, and structurally sound alternative to non-bonded materials conventionally used for base/sub-base applications in pavement engineering. The present work is aimed at thoroughly testing the engineering properties of RAP product in order to assess its suitability as a structurally sound and environmentally safe material, …

Impact Of A Pre-Combustion Retrofit Device On Vehicular Emissions: A Case Study, Sri Harsha Kanukolanu

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Vehicular emissions are a major cause of air pollution in the cities worldwide. Increased numbers of vehicles and the vehicle miles traveled by them every year means that the emissions are going to have a detrimental effect on the life and environment of this planet. Various control strategies are employed by the transportation and air quality managers at the state and regional levels to improve the ambient air quality. This research was conducted as part of the North Central Texas Council of Governments' Aftermarket Technology and Fuel Additive Research Program, its effort to make the DFW region's air cleaner. The …

Effectiveness Of Signal Coordination As An Emission Reduction Measure For Vehicles, Rajashi I. Parikh

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Air Pollution is a significant health and environmental concern. Vehicular emissions are major contributors to many air pollution problems. There is growing interest in reducing carbon dioxide emission because of the alarming increase in the pollution caused by petroleum resulting global warming issue. Various studies have found that U.S vehicles emit half of the CO2 emitted from vehicle all over the world. Dallas Fort Worth is a non-attainment area for ozone and it is required to achieve NAAQS standards by 2010. NOx and VOCs from the automobile are a major precursor of ozone formation in the atmosphere. Traffic signal retiming …

Assessment Of Soil-Water Retention Properties Of Lime And Cement Treated Clays, Harshavardhan Reddy Thudi

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

The soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) of unsaturated soils has considerable importance in the analysis of geotechnical engineering problems involving soils that remain under partially saturated conditions throughout any given year. The SWCC reflects the behavior of unsaturated soils with regard to its hydraulic conductivity, shear strength, and volume change behavior. Numerous investigations have been undertaken in recent decades to extend the unsaturated soil mechanics principles into conventional engineering practice. The soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) has become a widely used experimental means for assessing fundamental properties of unsaturated soils for a wide range of suction values. However, a limited number of …

General Response Of Kneading-Compacted Unsaturated Silty Sand Under Drained And Undrained True Triaxial Testing, Sangchul Pyo

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

A comprehensive series of 36 drained and 36 undrained true triaxial tests was accomplished to investigate the stress-strain-strength behaviour of kneading-compacted unsaturated silty sand (SP-SM) under multi-axial stress states. Test specimens were prepared at three different initial moist contents (6, 8, 10%) to achieve different compaction-induced suction conditions prior to testing. All samples were then subjected to either a drained or undrained multi-axial stress paths, including conventional triaxial compression (CTC), triaxial compression (TC), triaxial extension (TE), or simple shear (SS) stress path. Initial compaction-induced matric suction was assessed via the SWCC of test soil. The experimental program focuses on soil …

Photocatalytic Degradation Of Vocs, Toxics And Odors From Air Emissions Of Wastewater Treatment Plants And Municipal Solid Waste Landfills, Mita Suresh Upadhyay

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) require more stringent controls of sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). Air quality managers at the state level are responsible for developing State Implementation Plans (SIPs) to improve regional air quality. Both wastewater treatment and landfills facilities are sources of VOCs, HAPs and odors. This research examines the effectiveness of photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) in treating emissions from wastewater and landfill facilities. PCO rate constants of compounds such as methane, o-xylene, m-xylene, p-xylene and carbonyl sulfide are determined over titanium dioxide (TiO2) catalyst in a continuous mixed-batch reactor. The …

Evaluation Of Resilient Modulus Of Cement And Cement-Fiber Treated Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (Rap) Aggregates, Ajay Potturi

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Natural aggregates derived from a variety of source rocks have been used as a road base material. But the extraction of natural aggregates resources is increasingly being constrained by urbanization, increased costs and environmental concerns. Thus, increased amounts of reclaimed materials are being used to supplement natural aggregates in road construction. The 1993 EPA report mentioned that approximately 73 million tons of asphalt pavement material was recycled annually, which amounts to about 80% of the asphalt removed from pavements each year. The use of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) materials in road construction reduces both the amount of construction debris disposed …

Experimental Investigations On Small-Strain Stiffness Properties Of Partially Saturated Soils Via Resonant Column And Bender Element Testing, Phayak Takkabutr

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

A comprehensive series of resonant column (ASTM D 2325-68), bender element (ASTM C 778), pressure plate (ASTM D 4015-92), and filter paper (ASTM D 5298) tests were conducted on compacted specimens of poorly graded sand (SP) and high plasticity clay (CH) in order to assess the influence of key environmental factors, namely compaction-induced matric suction and Ko stress state, on small-strain stiffness properties of partially saturated soils. Compaction-induced matric suction in all test specimens was estimated via soil-water characteristic curves (SWCC) for each type of soil. The research work was accomplished in six broad stages. During Stage I, a modified …

Mode Choice Models For Long Distance Travel In Usa, Isaradatta Rasmidatta

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The influences of technology and economic development on human activity are increasingly taking place on larger spatial scales. As a consequence, complementary interactions between urban regions are getting stronger, which causes urban regions to change. In order to stimulate the integration between regions and states level, policy makers need increased knowledge of the factors that influence long distance travel. From an environmental perspective, long distance trips can be very important because most of the trips are made in personal vehicles or airplanes that affect emissions and fuel consumption. Mode choice alternatives for long distance travel include: personal vehicle, air, and …

Investigation Of Bamboo As Reinforcement In Concrete, Youngsi Jung

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

This study investigated the feasibility of using bamboo as a reinforcement alternative to steel in concrete structural members. The specifications studied were the bamboo's tensile strength and its pullout characteristics in concrete. Two types of bamboo, Solid and Moso, were used for tensile testing. The tensile test specimens were prepared with different lengths, 6 in (152 mm) and 12 in (304 mm), and different physical characteristics (with and without nodes). Tensile test specimens were tested to failure and their load deformation characteristics are reported. The failures of the test specimens were identified as: (1) node failure; (2) splitting failure; and …

Study Of Same-Lane And Inter-Lane Gvw Correlation, Colin C. Caprani, Bernard Enright, E. J. O'Brien

Conference papers

Extensive work has been done over the last two decades on the simulation of traffic loading on bridges. The methodology used is to generate a number of years of simulated traffic and to use extreme value statistics to predict more accurately the characteristic loading for a given bridge. The parameters and probability distributions used in the Monte Carlo simulation must be based on observed sample traffic data. Some previous studies have made unsubstantiated assumptions regarding correlation between the Gross Vehicle Weights (GVW) of trucks in the same lane, or between trucks in adjacent, same direction lanes. For this paper, an …

Rubble Pile Characterization Model, William P. Schonberg, Jason Baird, Paul Nicholas Worsey, Abdeldjelil Belarbi, Roger A. Laboube, Braden Lusk, R. Flanagan, H. Burleson, Robert S. Woodley, Warren Noll

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Rubble piles created following the collapse of a building in a combat situation can significantly impact mission accomplishment, particularly in the area of movement and maneuver. Rubble characteristics must be known, for example, in order to predict the ability of a vehicle to override the collateral damage from weapon effects in urban areas. Two types of models are developed: a first-order model and a first-principles-based model. In both models, we assume complete rubblization of the building and develop a rubble profile model using the size and composition of the collapsed structure to predict the rubble volume. In both cases, this …

Nonlinear Finite Element-Based Investigation Of The Effect Of Bedding Thickness On Underground Pipe, Anupong Kararam

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

The pipe-soil interaction is studied by using the finite element software, ABAQUS/CAE Version 6.5-1 as a symmetric model of embankment installation to study the effect of bedding property and thickness on pipe-soil interaction with increase in the height of fill. A three-dimensional finite element model (FEM) of the concrete pipe and surrounding soil is developed. The FEM is capable of simulating material, geometric, and contact nonlinearities which employs a nonlinear incremental solution algorithm. Several different element types and mesh size were tested to obtain the optimum converged mesh. These elements were eight-noded linear brick (C3D8R) and six-noded linear triangular prism …

Finding The Distribution Of Bridge Lifetime Load Effect By Predictive Likelihood, Colin C. Caprani, E. J. O'Brien

Conference papers

To assess the safety of an existing bridge, the loads to which it may be subject in its lifetime are required. Statistical analysis is used to extrapolate a sample of load effect values from the simulation period to the required design period. Complex statistical methods are often used and the end result is usually a single value of characteristic load effect. Such a deterministic result is at odds with the underlying stochastic nature of the problem. In this paper, predictive likelihood is shown to be a method by which the distribution of the lifetime extreme load effect may be determined. …

Bs News

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Wildlife Reflectors In Reducing Vehicle-Deer Collisions On Indiana Interstate 80/90, Sedat Gulen, George P. Mccabe, Ira Rosenthal, Samuel E. Wolfe, Virgil L. Anderson

JTRP Technical Reports

The Indiana Department of Transportation is committed to reducing vehicle-deer collision incidents on the Indiana Interstate I-80/90 as well as on the other roads. Very few of the studies to reduce vehicle-deer collisions incorporated any sound and complete statistical design. Some states (California, Colorado, Maine, Ontario-Canada, Washington State and Wyoming) have found that the use of wildlife reflectors did not reduce vehicle-deer collisions. However, some other states (British Columbia-Canada, Iowa, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington State and Wisconsin) found that the use of wildlife reflectors did reduce vehicle-deer collisions.

The main objective of this experimental study is to evaluate the effectiveness of …

Environmental Impact Of Wetland Resources Utilization In Simuyu Basin, Tanzania, Shadrack Mwakalila

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

There is a growing appreciation of the natural functions of wetlands, and the values and different forms of uses that humans attach to them. Wise use and special conservation strategies are therefore needed in order to sustain their productivity. Wetlands are one of the most fruitful areas of archaeological research, and they are the ideal setting in which to study the interactions between physical processes and human actions that encapsulate and exemplify many of the themes of man's impact on his environment. But all these beneficial functions of wetlands seem to be in danger of being lost to draining and …

Suitability Of Crusher-Dust As Masonry Construction Material, John Makunza

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Crusher dust generated at Kunduchi quarries in Dar es Salaam during aggregate crushing is counted as a waste material, and some times it .is disposed away or sold at a cheap price of not more than a quarter of that of sand. A study on the use of the crusher dust as a building material has been carried out in which samples were collected and analyzed for grading (sieve analysis). In additional to that, other samples were stabilized with a small amount of cement, from which bricks were produced and tested for compressive strength. Other bricks were bonded together using …

Socio-Economic Impacts Of Computer Viruses In Tanzania, M Victor

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

This paper reports on a research project conducted with an objective of identifying and assessing various approaches used by different computer users (Management, System Administrators and end users) in Tanzania to combat computer viruses (CVs), and to assess users' awareness level on CVs. Specifically, the study aimed at assessing the awareness level on CVs to the Tanzanian business community; analyze the socio -economic impact caused by CVs in Tanzania and; assess existing methods, capacity and limitations on controlling CVs in Tanzania. Data was collected using both questionnaires and interview from financial institutions such as NBC and BOT, and telecommunications sector …

Comparison Of Two Different Transport Models To Predict Sediment Transport: Simiyu River, Tanzania, Case Study, F Mwanuzi1

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

This paper presents the results of a study which focused at the spatial and temporal characteristics of sediment transport and deposition in the main river channels and floodplains. Two different numerical models were used to simulate stream flow and to analyze sediment transport and deposition in the river channels: (1) the SMS modules RMA2 and SED2D and (2) the SCALDIS model developed at the Free University of Brussels. Both numerical models contain a two-dimensional hydrodynamic module and a sediment transport module, allowing simulation of stream flow and sediment transport processes in river channels. However, they differ in the following aspects: …

Overview Of Hydraulics And Simiyu River Sediment Input Into Magu Bay, Lake Victoria, Tanzania, Alfonse Dubi

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Lake Victoria is experiencing multifaceted environmental and ecological problems. A  study of the problems needs a multidisciplinary approach. to establish the cause-effect relationships. The study focuses on the hydraulics of Lake Victoria's Magu Bay and Simiyu riverine input of suspended sediments and their distribution in the Bay. Sampling in the river mouth and the Bay was conducted aboard an 8m outboard engine wooden boat. Turbidity, currents speed and direction were measured using an "AANDERAA" multi-sensor self-recording current meter model 9 (RCM9). Water depth was measured using an echo-sounder type FISHIN' BUDDY II. Geographical positions of the sampling locations were obtained …

Self-Similarity Of Mean Flow In Pipe Turbulence, Junke Guo

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Based on our previous modified log-wake law in turbulent pipe ‡flows, we invent two compound similarity numbers (Y;U), where Y is a combination of the inner variable y+ and outer variable , and U is the pure exect of the wall. The two similarity numbers can well collapse mean velocity profile data with different moderate and large Reynolds numbers into a single universal profile. We then propose an arctangent law for the buffer layer and a general log law for the outer region in terms of (Y;U). From Milikan’s maximum velocity law and the Princeton superpipe data, we derive the …

Effect Of Tricalcium Silicate Content On Expansion In Internal Sulfate Attack, Troy T. Whitfield

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the cementitious parameters and placement temperature that impact internal sulfate attack in concrete. Concrete structures make up a large percentage of the infrastructure and multifamily housing. Durability is very important. Cements can be formulated to reduce the impact of external environmental exposure such as high salinity from marine environments or high sulfate levels from soils or surface waters. Concrete is also subject to internal attack such as alkali aggregate reaction, (AAR), and delayed ettringite formation, (DEF). This study focused on some of the cement chemistry issues that determine susceptibility of cement to …

Calibration Of The Corelok Method For Determination Of Missouri Aggregate Specific Gravities, David Newton Richardson, S. M. Lusher

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Specific gravity and absorption are fundamental aggregate properties needed for hot-mix asphalt (HMA) and Portland cement concrete (PCC) mix design and/or volumetric determinations. MoDOT utilizes the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) standard test methods T 84 (for fine aggregates) and T 85 (for coarse aggregates) to determine these important properties. Criticisms of these procedures are the subjective nature of determining when the aggregates have reached the saturated, surface-dry (SSD) condition (especially T 84) and the substantial amount of time needed to complete the tests. The CoreLok method addresses these criticisms in that it is an objective …