Civil Engineering Commons^™

A Validated Tropical-Extratropical Flood Hazard Assessment For New York Harbor, Philip M. Orton, T. M. Hall, Stefan A. Talke, Alan F. Blumberg, Nickitas Georgas, S. Vinogradov

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Recent studies of flood risk at New York Harbor (NYH) have shown disparate results for the 100 year storm tide, providing an uncertain foundation for the flood mitigation response after Hurricane Sandy. Here we present a flood hazard assessment that improves confidence in our understanding of the region's present-day potential for flooding, by separately including the contribution of tropical cyclones (TCs) and extratropical cyclones (ETCs), and validating our modeling study at multiple stages against historical observations. The TC assessment is based on a climatology of 606 synthetic storms developed from a statistical-stochastic model of North Atlantic TCs. The ETC assessment …

Input Parameters In Discrete Element Modeling, Seyedali Yousefi

Civil Engineering ETDs

The discrete element method (DEM) is employed to study complex behaviors of particulate media. Input parameters may greatly affect the response of DEM models and should therefore be selected carefully. Scaling techniques are employed to enlarge prohibitively small time-steps. To study these techniques, dimensionless input parameters were defined. Responses of models in the dimensionless scale were invariant with choice of density, elastic modulus, and characteristic length if the dimensionless parameters were kept constant. Hence, density scaling is equivalent to use of a higher strain-rate, and stiffness scaling results in a higher strain-rate and an elevated stress state in the dimensionless …

Solar Urban Planning: Addressing Barriers And Conflicts Specific To Renewable Energy Policy And The Current Field And Practice Of Urban Planning Within The Context Of A Changing Climate, Toryl P. Hanna

Capstone Collection

The world is in a period of rapid urbanization while experiencing unprecedented rise in global temperature as a result of climate change. Questions have been raised as to how strategies for urbanization will be able to address the fetish for energy, while halting carbon emissions produced by traditional energy sources for urban inhabitants around the world. First, this paper seeks to look to cities, at the intersection of solar energy and the field of urban planning, looking into the opportunities and challenges that are currently surfacing. Conflicts and barriers in traditional urban land use patterns emerge as a topic of …

The Impact Of Project Delivery Methods On Dispute Occurrence In Public Highway Projects, Samaneh Nasrollahi, Ghada M. Gad, Alan Atalah

Master of Technology Management Plan II Graduate Projects

The construction industry is a complex and competitive industry in which different participants with different expertise, talents, and levels of knowledge work together to achieve their objectives and complete a project. Sine different participants with different interest involve in a construction project, therefore, conflicts arise and become inevitable. Conflicts in projects will cause an adversarial environment which result to disputes. Hence, if conflicts are not well managed and resolved in a timely manner, they quickly turn into disputes, which prevent the successful completion of the construction project, in terms of cost and time, and increasing the potential for poor project …

Hydraulic And Hydrologic Properties Of The Sabine River, Annie L. Bryant

Civil Engineering Theses

The Sabine River is located in Northeast Texas and is home to many threatened and endangered species as well as a growing human population. It is important to understand channel properties and flow characteristics of rivers in order better manage these important natural resources. The Sabine was monitored for hydraulic and hydrological properties as this is a poorly understood river at this point in time.

Hydraulic modeling was conducted to determine channel velocities and shear stresses during different storm frequencies. It was found that velocity and shear stress had a direct relationship at lower velocities. A comparison of existing Geographic …

Lucidpipe™ Power System, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

In most gravity fed water transmission pipelines, it is desired to reduce excess pressure head to prevent undue strain on a pipeline and lower the incidence of leaks. Normally this is done with pressure reducing valves that essentially burn off this excess pressure as heat. The LucidPipe™ system converts it to low cost electricity thereby removing unwanted pressure and generating energy at the same time - energy that can be put used behind the grid or put back on the grid. The LucidPipe™ system extracts a small percentage of pressure head providing nearly invisible operation allowing water operators to fulfill …

I-94 Advanced Bridge Replacement, Saleem Alsharari

Honors Theses

The Michigan Department of Transportation has always felt the need of improving and increasing the capacity of the most critical highway in the state of Michigan, I-94. Part of the improvement plan is to increase the capacity of a 6-mile segment along a corridor of I-94 from French Avenue to Trumbull Avenue which is in a suburban neighborhood of Detroit. There are eight bridges built in the 1950’s that need to be re-constructed for a capacity increase. Vehicular and non-motorized traffic must be accounted for in the design of these bridges. The project is intended to increase the service life …

Total Bridge Replacement Of M-13 Over Cheboyganing Creek, Daniel Burns

Honors Theses

The Michigan Department of Transportation sought a proposal consisting of design and construction engineering services for the total bridge replacement of M-13 over Cheboyganing Creek. The M-13 Bridge Project is located on M-13 over Cheboyganing Creek on the Saginaw River in Portsmouth Township, Bay County, Michigan.

Several components of the existing bridge have been rated in poor or serious condition on the National Bridge Inventory rating scale. A total bridge replacement is required and aligns with MDOT strategies to address critical infrastructure needs in the state as well as the Bay Region's five-year plan for managing bridge and culvert infrastructure. …

Expression And The Functional Study Of Fusion Proteins Α-Amylase And Hemolysin- Αas An Application In Biofilm Polysaccharide Degradation, Gede Yuda Sugiarta, Anggoro Wiseso, Siska Yuliana Sari, Etri Dian Kamila, Vanessa Geraldine, Diana Christina, Muhammad Hanifi, Dwiantari Satyapertiwi, Robby Hertanto, Budiman Bela, Masafumi Yohda, Muhamad Sahlan

Makara Journal of Technology

Biofilm is an aggregate of consortium bacteria that adhere to each other on a surface. It is usually protected by the exopolysaccharide layer. Various invasive medical procedures, such as catheterization, endotracheal tube installation, and contact lens utilization, are vulnerable to biofilm infection. The National Institute of Health (NIH) estimates 65% of all microbial infections are caused by biofilm. Periplasmic α-amylase (MalS) is an enzyme that hydrolyzes α-1, 4- glicosidic bond in glycogen, starch, and others related polysaccharides in periplasmic space. Another protein called hemolysin-α (HlyA) is a secretion signal protein on C terminal of particular peptide in gram negative bacteria. …

Design Of The Human Assembly Strategy In A Self-Optimizing Assembly Cell: A Case Study Of Indonesians, Novie Susanto, Ratna Purwaningsih, Kharisma Panca Kurniawati

Makara Journal of Technology

This paper presents a continuing study of the human cognitive aspect application in the technical systems. The last studies design a human-centered design based on the German culture. The result shows a significant difference of human performance between Germans and Indonesians. Therefore, this study examines the human cognitive model based on Indonesian culture to investigate whether the different cognitive model based on the culture aspect can improve the human performance. The study was conducted on 60 people classified by age, young (16-34 years old) and old (older than 34 years old). Participants render predictions on an assembly activity for two …

Optimizing Supply Chain Collaboration Based On Agreement Buyer-Supplier Relationship With Network Design Problem, Wahyudi Sutopo, Ayu Erliza, Arien Heryansyah

Makara Journal of Technology

In recent years, the rising competitive environment with shorter product life cycles and high customization forces industries to increase their flexibility, speed up their response, and enhance concurrent engineering designs. To integrate these prospects, supply chain collaboration becomes a pertinent strategy for industries to strengthen their competitiveness. The network design problem is used to implement supply chain collaboration. In the buying and selling process, sharing information between buyer and supplier are important to obtain a transaction decision. The optimimum supply chain profit can be identified by mathematical model of network design problem. The Mathematical Model takes into consideration the uncertainity …

Effect Of Milling On The Densification Of Sic-Basedcomposites From Polysilazane, Alfian Noviyanto, Toshiyuki Nishimura

Makara Journal of Technology

High density SiC-based composites from polysilazane were fabricated by high energy milling and hot pressing. After cross-linking at 200 °C, the polysilazane was pyrolysed at 1000 °C in N2 for 2 h to form amorphous Si-C-N-O followed by high energy milling for 1 h. Milled amorphous Si-C-N-O was sintered in hot pressing at 1600 and 1700 °C for 1 h in vacuum under the applied pressure of 50 MPa. Although no sintering additives were used, dense SiC-based composites were obtained with this method. Sintered density was 3.04 g/cm3, while only 2.57 g/cm3 for amorphous Si-C-N-O without milling. It is suggested …

Characterization And Utilization Of Calcium Oxide (Cao) Thermally Decomposed From Fish Bones As A Catalyst In The Production Of Biodiesel From Waste Cooking Oil, Aldes Lesbani, Sabat Okta Ceria Sitompul, Risfidian Mohadi, Nurlisa Hidayati

Makara Journal of Technology

Thermal decomposition of fish bones to obtain calcium oxide (CaO) was conducted at various temperatures of 400, 500, 800, 900, 1000, and 1100 °C. The calcium oxide was then characterized using X-ray diffractometer, FTIR spectrophotometer, and SEM analysis. The calcium oxide obtained from the decomposition at 1000 °C was then used as a catalyst in the production of biodiesel from waste cooking oil. Diffraction pattern of the calcium oxide produced from decomposition at 1000 °C showed a pattern similar to that of the calcium oxide produced by the Joint Committee on Powder Diffraction Standard (JCDPS). The diffractions of 2q values …

Thermoeconomic Optimization Of Cascade Refrigeration System Using Mixed Carbon Dioxide And Hydrocarbons At Low Temperature Circuit, Nasruddin Nasruddin, Arnas Arnas, Ahmad Faqih, Niccolo Giannetti

Makara Journal of Technology

Many applications and industrial processes require very low cooling temperature, such as cold storage in the biomedical field, requiring temperature below -80 °C. However, single-cycle refrigeration systems can only achieve the effective cooling temperature of -40 °C and, also, the performance of the cycle will decrease drastically for cooling temperatures lower than -35°C. Currently, most of cascade refrigeration systems use refrigerants that have ozone depletion potential (ODP) and global warming potential (GWP), therefore, in this study, a cascade system is simulated using a mixture of environmentally friendly refrigerants, namely, carbon dioxide and a hydrocarbon (propane, ethane or ethylene) as the …

Developing Road Infrastructure Route Planning: Increasing Feasibility Of Toll Road Project, Mohammed Ali Berawi, Teuku Yuri Zagloel, Perdana Miraj, Abdur Rohim Boy Berawi, Wellsi Titaheluw, Saipol Bari Bin Abd Karim

Makara Journal of Technology

Indonesian government attempts to improve connectivity and to increase regional activities in Sumatera Island through the development of Trans Sumatera Toll Road (TSTR). However, despite its benefits to local economic development in Sumatera, the project shows low feasibility due to a low amount of investment. It can be attributed from the lack of planning in the initial phase to produce a comprehensive route that considers the various potentials of the regions. Thus, this research aims to investigate alternative route planning of Trans Sumatera Toll Road particularly in this paper for Central Sumatera by studying Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP), population …

Thermal And -Γ –Ray Irradiation Effects On The Ionic Conductivity Of (Licl)X(Montmorillonite)1-X, Safei Purnama, Aziz Khan Jahja, Takeshi Sakuma

Makara Journal of Technology

Compositesof montmorillonite (MMT) - lithium salts have been prepared using a simple process of powders mixing followed by heating. The powders resulting from this method are expected to beionic conductors with a high ionic conductivity characteristics. This characteristics is also further improved by employing gamma-ray irradiation technique at specified irradiation doses. The best results were obtained for the (LiCl)0.5(MMT)0.5 composite with a room temperature ionic conductivity of 2.192 mS/cm, which then increases to ~5 mS/cm after gamma irradiation at a dose of 400 kGy. This value is equivalent to the value of the ionic conductivity of current commercial rechargeable lithium …

Economic Feasibility Of Campus-Wide Photovoltaic Systems In New England, Jongsung Lee, Byungik Chang, Can B. Aktas, Ravi Gorthala

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Compared to the national average residential retail electricity price, Connecticut (CT) had the 4th 26 highest electricity price in the country with 19.23 cents/kWh in September 2015, nearly 50% 27 higher than the national average for price of electricity. This study aims to assess the economic 28 feasibility of the solar PV systems at the campus under realistic constraints, by analyzing actual 29 data from the solar array on campus. The project focused on the economic feasibility of solar PV 30 systems on campus with physical, spatial, and practical constraints that result in a project to 31 deviate from theoretical …

Sustainable Temporary Housing: Global Trends And Outlook, Daniel V. Perrucci, Bianca A. Vazquez, Can B. Aktas

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

The concept of sustainable housing can take many forms or definitions. The view embraced in this study for sustainable housing was a structure that is low-cost, energy efficient, and one that uses local renewable or recycled materials, while at the same time being safe and providing shelter to its occupants from the elements. Rather than focus on a few aspects of housing in isolation from spatial necessities or occupant demographics, the approach used in this study was to seek best practices for sustainable temporary housing that also accounts for local climatic conditions. The global need for temporary housing may be …

Influence Of Concrete Compressive Strength On Transfer And Development Lengths Of Prestressed Concrete, Alberto Teodoro Ramirez-Garcia

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the relationship between concrete compressive strength and strand bond. The goal of this research was to develop an equation that relates strand bond to concrete compressive strength at strand release (approximately 1 day of age) and at 28 days of age, and those equations are presented in this investigation. Strand bond is assessed by measuring the transfer length and development length for prestressed beams cast in the laboratory. In the U.S., strand bond is predicted using transfer length and development length equations provided by the American Concrete Institute (ACI-318) Building Code and American Association of State and …

Soil Moduli Obtained From A Back Pressure Constant Rate Of Strain Bender Element Consolidation Apparatus, Yi Zhao

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A back-pressure saturated, constant-rate-of-strain consolidation device was modified to incorporate bender elements (BP-CRS-BE) and thus allowed for shear wave measurements during consolidation tests. This newly fabricated system has many advantages over other previous or current devices: 1) it can be utilized not only for laboratory prepared soil samples but also for field sampled soils such as Shelby tube samples, and 2) continuous compression curves, and continuous values of vertical hydraulic conductivity and coefficient of consolidation can be acquired with a significant reduction in testing time. Soil modulus values such as shear modulus and constrained modulus are also able to be …

Shear Investigation Of Polypropylene Fiber-Reinforced Concrete Beams, Ehsan Navadeh

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

This study investigates the effect of macro-synthetic polypropylene fibers on the shear strength and failure behavior of longitudinally reinforced concrete beams with and/ or without transverse reinforcement. Eight large-scale were constructed, cured and tested at Civil Engineering Laboratory Building (CELB). This includes flexural reinforced concrete beams without transverse reinforcement (RC), reinforced concrete beam with minimum transverse reinforcement (RCS), 0.5% volume macro-synthetic polypropylene fiber-reinforced concrete beams without stirrups (SNFRC 0.5%), and 0.75% macro-synthetic polypropylene-fiber reinforced concrete beams without stirrups (SNFRC 0.75%). During production of large-scale beams, 19 Cylinders and 9 small-scale beams were produced from the same mix-design and cured for …

Effect Of Tio2/Uv-Led Operational Parameters On The Degradation Of Pharmaceuticals In Water, Burhanuddin Khuzema Zaveri

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

The presence of pharmaceutical residues in water resources has alarmed water and health authorities. Among many treatment technologies for pharmaceuticals, ultraviolet (UV)-based oxidation has gained significant attention because it is capable of decomposing a variety of recalcitrant and toxic chemicals. As an alternative UV source to problematic conventional mercury lamps, light-emitting diode (LED) has shown many advantages for water treatment applications, so-called UV-LED. The overall goal of this study is to evaluate the high potential of the UV-LED technology to treat water contaminated with pharmaceuticals including sulfamethoxazole, ibuprofen, and triclosan. In particular, important operational parameters were investigated, including UV wavelength, …

Integration Of Bim And Utility Sensor Data For Facilities Management, Kamal Suprabhas

Open Access Theses

Building information modelling represents a building as a database of coordinated, consistent and computable information in construction (Sabol, 2008). There has been a recent trend to study the usage of BIM for post-construction facility management. Recently, attempts are also being made to link a BIM model with smart sensing technology or building automation systems (BAC). This thesis aims to investigate the feasibility of using sensor data from mote based light sensors tied to a BIM model, to be used for maintenance based facility management. More specifically, a prototype will be developed that integrates lighting sensor data collected using a mote …

Effect Of Manures On Food Waste Degradation In Biocell, Md Nur Basit Zaman

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Proper disposal of food waste is a challenge due to adverse effect on the environment through generation of excessive leachate and greenhouse gas (CH4). After food loss through the food supply chain, the food waste ends up mostly in landfills. A study by EPA showed food waste to be the second largest component found in landfill. However, food waste imposes major cost on landfill management, and demands a potential alternative disposal solution that can negate the adverse effects. Though anaerobic digester and composting are possible solutions for food waste disposal, the former is highly expensive while in later solution, a …

Study Of Parameters Impacting Productivity Of Tunnel Boring Machines, Hamed Hashem Pour

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Tunnel construction has been on the rise for transportation of humans, freight and fluids. For a successful tunneling project, it is necessary for that tunneling contractors to have sufficient data about scope of work, project features and characteristics of the ground to estimate advance rate of the a tunnel boring machine (TBM). The main objective of this thesis is to study tunneling case studies and literature to analyze TBM productivity based on ground conditions, diameter and length of each project. Project data was tabulated and results are reported in this thesis. The methodology to conduct this research was literature search …

Laboratory Evaluation Of Tx- Prochem As An Ionic Liquid Stabilizer, Esmat Tavakoli

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Chemical treatment of pavement and foundation soil was conducted to improve workability during compaction, to increase the strength and stiffness of a foundation layer, and to reduce potential shrink and swell due to moisture changes and/or frost action. In this study, a commercial liquid ionic stabilizer (Tx ProChem) was evaluated based on its effectiveness to reduce swell potential and improve the strength of Texas expansive clay. This study also evaluated selected, representative liquid chemical stabilizers’ effect on expansive clay soil. The research presented herein assesses how much the chemical treatments changed the relevant engineering properties of the test soil as …

Dynamic And Static Behavior Of Hollow-Core Frp-Concrete-Steel And Reinforced Concrete Bridge Columns Under Vehicle Collision, Omar I. Abdelkarim, Mohamed Elgawady

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents the difference in behavior between hollow-core fiber reinforced polymer-concrete-steel (HC-FCS) columns and conventional reinforced concrete (RC) columns under vehicle collision in terms of dynamic and static forces. The HC-FCS column consisted of an outer FRP tube, an inner steel tube, and a concrete shell sandwiched between the two tubes. The steel tube was hollow inside and embedded into the concrete footing with a length of 1.5 times the tube diameter while the FRP tube stopped at the top of footing. The RC column had a solid cross-section. The study was conducted through extensive finite element impact analyses …

Hydraulic Performance Evaluation Of Evapotranspiration Cover Systems, Brett James De Vries

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Although alternative covers such as the evapotranspiration (ET) landfill cover system promise to provide equivalent or greater performance than conventional cover systems, uncertainties remain on the performance of these type of cover systems. The uncertainties associated with performance may derive from the relative newness of these covers (when compared to conventional landfill cover systems); and their dependency on relatively site-specific factors such as: climatic, vegetation, and soil conditions. As a results, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) requires a landfill facility to design and then verify the design and performance through site specific field scale testing (TCEQ 2012). Utilizing …

Novel Approach For Selective Decomposition Of Target Water Contaminants Onto Porous Titanium Dioxide, Abolfazl Zakersalehi

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Manipulation of physical and chemical properties of matter with nanoscale precision will enhance our ability for fabrication of material with intended characteristics for environmental applications. In this study we presented two main frameworks for addressing non-selectivity issue in TiO2 photocatalysts, which is believed to be a major drawback in full-scale application of this technology. First, a purely physical approach for enhancing selectivity of nanostructured TiO2 photocatalysts toward water target contaminants have been achieved via tailor-designing meso-porous structure of TiO2. This simple, yet effective method is mainly based on size-exclusion as a mean toward preferential decomposition. It was hypothesized controlled mesoporous …

Harmful Algal Blooms And Biological Toxins Productions; From Integrated Monitoring Approach To On-Site Solar Photocatalytic Decomposition, Hesam Zaman Khan Malayeri

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Occurrence of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) worldwide has caused concern to environmental and health authorities because of their potential to generate and release biological toxins. In particular, microcystins (MCs) produced from cyanobacteria are of great concern. MCs are among the most powerful natural poisons. The presence of MCs in drinking water sources has raised major concern. The overall goal of this research is to predict formation of biological toxins in water bodies and to develop a new sustainable approach to decompose them, if feasible, on-site and in real-time with minimal efforts, less chemicals, and low energy inputs. In order to …