Civil Engineering Commons^™

Approximation Assessment Of Photocatalytic Air Cleaning Pavements, James E. Alleman, Joel K. Sikkema, Peter C. Taylor

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

This paper examines an approximation method to qualitatively assess the air-cleaning performance (i.e., specifically the elimination of aerial nitrogen oxide, NO, released within vehicular exhaust) by full-scale pavements which contain photo-catalytically reactive titanium dioxide under optimal conditions. Two hypothetical road configurations were considered using this method, including both a two-lane, low traffic density (i.e., 4,000 full-day AADT) and a four-lane, moderate traffic density (i.e., 10,000 full-day AADT) design. These options were then comparatively examined on the basis of expected European Union or United States vehicular emission levels. In each case, this method’s day-time-only percentile elimination approximation results were derived using …

Seismic Design Of A Prestressed Concrete Bridge, Alperen Ozel

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Latest advancements in software have become an indispensable tool in structural analysis. The main goal of this thesis is to examine dynamic responses of bridges in seismic activity with the help of such tool as CSi Bridge. Therefore, throughout this study, a prestressed concrete bridge model will be thoroughly designed. In the first section, the required materials and structural components will be introduced. The following section will cover calculations required for modeling. The actual modeling of the structure will be carried out in Section 3. In Section 4, the set of required analysis for seismic design such as modal, pushover …

Assessment Of Soil Washing For Simultaneous Removal Of Heavy Metals And Low-Level Petroleum Hydrocarbons Using Various Washing Solutions, Deok-Hyun Moon, Jae-Woo Park, Agamemnon Koutsospyros, Kyung Hoon Cheong, Yoon-Young Chang, Ki-Tae Baek, Raehyun Jo, Jeong-Hun Park

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Bench-scale soil washing experiments were conducted for simultaneous removal of heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Zn) and low-level petroleum hydrocarbon contaminants from soils. Various washing solutions including hydrochloric acid (HCl), nitric acid (HNO₃), sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄), tartaric acid (C₄H₆O₆) and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (C₁₀H₁₆N₂O₈, EDTA) were used. The concentration of the washing solutions ranged from 0.1 to 3M with a liquid-to-solid ratio of 10. The soil washing results showed that hydrochloric acid (HCl) was the best washing solution at 3M for heavy …

Analysis Of Bridge Deck Sections By Pseudo-Compressibility Method Based On Fdm And Les: Improving Performance Through Implementation Of Parallel Computing, Blandine Therese Mbianda Kemayou

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The incidence of wind on bridges produces static and dynamic loading that must be adequately addressed when designing bridges. Dynamic loading is the primary concern, as the amplitude of the structures response to the applied loading may be greatly amplified. Ideally, the bridge's properties should be designed to avoid dynamic loading. Previous investigations of wind loading on bridges consisted of measuring forces produced on scaled models of bridges within wind tunnels. However, these wind tunnel tests are costly and time consuming due to cost to fabricate and instrument the bridge cross sections. Recent advancements in computational power of computers allow …

Quantification And Characterization Of Fracture Resistance In Asphalt Concrete Based On R-Curve Method, Shu Yang

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The application of fracture energy is widely applied in the evaluation of cracking in the laboratory for asphalt concrete. However, this single number does not provide information on the characterization of the initiation and propagation of cracks. The Resistance Curve method, or R-Curve, is widely applied in characterizing various materials including, but not limited to, metal, polymer, rock, and composite. This research R-Curve method introduces asphalt concrete through a stepwise approach. First, in chapter one, there is a literature review of the history of fracture mechanics, fracture research in asphalt concrete, and an examination of the role of R-Curve application …

Exploring The Black Space Of Compressive And Shear Modulus, Airam Marlee Morales Vega

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Uniaxial dynamic modulus is a standard test used to determine the viscoelastic behavior of asphalt pavement materials, with the standard analysis generating a Master Curve. One alternative to the master curve approach is a Black Space diagram, which is a rheological plot that can delineate either dynamic modulus |E*| or shear modulus |G*| vs. phase angle (δ). In this study, four asphalt binders were tested with one aggregate blend. One of these four binders was unmodified and the other three were modified with polymers and acids. Additionally, Polyphosphoric acid (PPA) is compared to the more traditional SBS polymer modification. PPA …

Impact Of Extreme Summer Temperatures On Bridge Structures, Ryan Hagedorn

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Climate change and its effect on weather in the United States is a well-documented phenomenon. In particular, extreme heat waves have become more intense, more frequent, and longer lasting, especially in the southern United States. As with much of America’s transportation infrastructure, prestressed concrete bridge girders experience the effects of these heat waves. Uneven heating of optimized bridge girder sections results in large non-linear temperature gradients. In this study, temperature was monitored in three different AASHTO I-girders to determine the vertical and transverse temperature gradients in a pre-deck placement condition. It was determined that the current design standard, which uses …

Nanofiltration Rejection Of Contaminants Of Emerging Concern From Municipal Water Resource Recovery Facility Secondary Effluents For Potable Reuse Applications, Steven Michael Jones

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As reuse of municipal water resource recovery facility (WRRF) effluent becomes vital to augment diminishing fresh drinking water resources, concern exists that conventional barriers may prove deficient and the upcycling of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) could prove harmful to human health and aquatic species if more effective and robust treatment barriers are not in place.

There are no federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) regulations in place specifically for direct potable reuse (DPR) of WRRF effluent. Out of necessity, some states are developing their own DPR reuse regulations. Currently, reverse osmosis (RO) is the default full advanced treatment (FAT) …

Structural Identification Of An Elevated Water Tower, James Thomas Norris

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Elevated water tanks are generally located at higher elevations within a particular geographic area. The location and height of these structures often makes them desirable for installing wireless and cellular communications antennas. The impact of this practice on the long-term serviceability performance of the primary structure is not clear and could be an important consideration deserving further analysis. This paper presents a case study of an elevated water tank that was motivated by this particular consideration. The structure had been retrofitted with cellular antennas during its service and later experienced fatigue cracking at the fill pipe-tank interface. The owner wished …

Field Observations And Computer Modeling Of Tornado-Terrain Interaction And Its Effects On Tornado Damage And Path, Nawfal Shihab Ahmed

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Tornado forces on structures have been a research focus for the past decades, and some comparisons have been made to distinguish between straight boundary layer (SBL) wind and tornado wind forces on specific structures. However, very little attention has been paid to terrain effects on tornado damage and path. Available damage investigation data for four tornado locations (Joplin-2011, Tuscaloosa-2011, Parish-2011 and Mayflower-2014) is utilized to explore terrain effects on tornado damage and path. Google Earth, site visits and aerial images are employed to study the influence of terrain on an extent of damage and path variation. Additionally, a three dimensional …

Development Of The Masw Method For Pavement Evaluation, Benjamin J. Davis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to establish a recommended procedure for performing multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) on pavements as well as evaluating the ability of MASW to detect a change in shear wave velocity as damage in concrete increases. The tests for establishing a recommended procedure for performing MASW on pavements was conducted at five sites at the University of Arkansas Engineering Research Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The five sites consisted of three materials: asphalt, concrete, and soil (two sites were on asphalt, two were on concrete, and one was on soil). The methods evaluated at these …

Strengthening Of Lightweight Reinforced Concrete Beams Using Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (Cfrp), Tariq Al Jaafreh

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

This research aimed to investigate the effect of utilizing “Fiber Reinforced Polymer” (FRP) on the light weight concrete beams. The main hypothesis is that such utilization of the FRP will lead to strengthened lightweight beams. The research that has been done on this relationship is somewhat broad in the scope and have mostly focused on the normal-weight concrete. However, only few studies that have considered the light weight concrete. Eight Beams were tested in this research under four point bending test. Two beams were taken as a control beams without any external bonding of Carbon Fiber Reinforced polymer. Another two …

Comparison Of Methane Production From Household Waste, Sunita Baniya

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Anaerobic digestion is a biochemical process in which various microorganisms transform complex organic compounds to methane, along with carbon dioxide, water vapor and a small amount of other trace gases in absence of oxygen. Methane from anaerobic digestion processes is being increasingly utilized as an alternative energy source in developing as well as developed countries. These days the energy crisis is very acute in rural communities of developing countries, where fuelwood has been and still is the major source of daily used fuel. Through anaerobic digestion, clean-burning fuel for cooking can be produced from degradation of household organic wastes, solving …

Impact Of Weather Factors On Go-Around Occurrence, Bharath Donavalli

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

A “go-around” occurs when an aircraft, which is on final approach, aborts it landing due to unsatisfactory conditions. Go-arounds have a significant impact on the capacity of the airports and pose a serious concern at large airports, especially for airports with diagonal runways. Go-arounds occur due to manual errors, mechanical faults and weather factors. This study focuses on the impact of weather factors on go-around occurrence. The study includes wind gust, storm events (thunderstorm, rain and snow) and visibility as the weather factors under investigation. The author uses a factorial sampling strategy where these factors are segmented into additional categories …

Sustainable Reuse Of Fly Ash To Mitigate Landfill Methane, Sharon Priyadarshini

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

According to US, EIA 2014 coal alone produces nearly 40% of electricity more than another source in US. Out of the 110 million tons of Coal combustion by-products (CCBs) generated per year as a result of coal combustion, 47% is reused whereas 53% is stored on-site or sent to landfills. There are a number of adverse economic and environmental impacts associated with storage and disposal of coal. Methane (CH4) is a powerful greenhouse gas (GHG), contributing 32% of current climate forcing (US EPA, 2015). Landfill gas comprises of 50-55% CH4 and 40-45% CO2. Global warming potential of CH4 is 28 …

Air Dispersion Modeling Of Multiple Natural Gas Well Pads At Different Terrain Conditions And Determination Of Inverse Distance Weighting Function Exponent, Fatemeh Khalaj

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Natural gas production and development has been widely spreading all over the United States. Texas has been leading the nation in natural gas production by holding approximately twenty three percent of the nation’s natural gas reserves. However, natural gas exploration, drilling, production and distribution process have impacts on air quality and human health. The emissions from natural gas processes could be categorized as volatile organic compounds (including Hazardous Air Pollutants), methane, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxides, particulate matter and some other minor emitted pollutants, which have the potential of causing serious health problems and also impact air quality from an environmental …

Safety Aspects Of Bicyclists In A Connected Vehicle Environment, Ajaykumar Patil

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

The revival in the number of bicyclists, bike infrastructure investments and bike policies in the U.S. in the last two decades has escalated the importance of bicycling as a mode of transportation. With the proliferating role of the bicycle mode, bike fatalities continue to grow, too. In response to the increase in fatalities and crashes caused by human driven vehicles, the automobile industry and governments seek to develop autonomous vehicles that can address most of the human related crash causes. While increasing safety remains the primary goal of autonomous vehicles (AV) innovation, the difficulty of bicyclist and pedestrian detection using …

Improving Hydrologic Prediction For Large Urban Areas Through Stochastic Analysis Of Scale-Dependent Runoff Response, Advanced Sensing And High-Resolution Modeling, Amir Norouzi

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Due to urbanization and climate change, large urban areas such as the DallasFort Worth Metroplex (DFW) area is vulnerable not only to river flooding but also flash flooding. Due to the nonstationarities involved, projecting how the changes in land cover and climate may modify flood frequency in large urban areas is a challenge. Part I of this work develops a simple spatial stochastic model for rainfall-to-areal runoff in urban areas, evaluates climatological mean and variance of mean areal runoff (MAR) over a range of catchment scales, translates them into runoff frequency as a proxy for flood frequency, and assesses its …

Structural Retrofit Of Reinforced Concrete Circular Columns Using Cfrp, Ahmed Haider Mohiuddin

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have developed numerous applications in the field of Civil Engineering, mostly because of their beneficial properties like high strength-to=weight ratio and high corrosion resistance. This study presents an easy and expedient finite element (FE) able to accurately estimate the axial load carrying capacity of reinforced concrete (RC) circular columns confined with externally bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets. The element is able to model collapse due to concrete crushing. The FE generated in this study is used the load carrying capacity of CFRP confined RC columns subjected to concentric loading. Constitutive models for materials …

Framework Of Performance-Based Contracting For Chip Seal And Striping Maintenance Activities, Kishor Shrestha

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In the United States, there are more than four million miles of road network and new roads are being constructed every year. Most of the road networks were constructed more than two decades ago. Therefore, the age of the majority of the pavement inventory has exceeded original design life. This results in increased work load for the maintenance division of the state Departments of Transportation (DOTs). To maintain the road system, state DOTs use In-House or outsource maintenance works to private contractors using Method Based Contracting (MBC), or Performance Based Contracting (PBC), or any combination of these three. Literature reviews …

Sustainability Assessment Of Recycled Asphalt Mixtures In Texas, Reza Saeedzadeh

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The pavement practitioners use more recycled materials in asphalt mixtures in order to compensate for the high price of petroleum products and save the limited resources of virgin materials. Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) and Recycled Asphalt Shingles (RAS) have been in wide use in asphalt mixtures for several decades. Public perception on the utilization of recycled materials is that the mixtures become more cost effective and more environmental friendly. This is true when the initial stage of construction of pavements is assessed. However, a mixture that costs less and/or burdens the environment less at the beginning may require more frequent …

Microbial Degradation Of Sulfonamide Antibiotics, Rachel Levine

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Certain microbes can transform antibiotics in the environment. However, little is known about the identity of these microbes and their antibiotic biotransformation processes. The objectives of this study were to (1) isolate bacterial strains capable of transforming antibiotics, (2) determine the biotransformation kinetics of antibiotics, (3) characterize the effects of background carbons on the biotransformation kinetics, and (4) identify biotransformation products under various environmental conditions. Sulfadiazine (SDZ) was used as the model antibiotic in this study due to its frequent occurrence in livestock wastes. Surface soil from a cattle feedlot was collected to enrich potential SDZ degrading bacteria. A mixed …

Emerging Investigators Series: Virus Mitigation By Coagulation: Recent Discoveries And Future Directions, Joe Heffron, Brooke K. Mayer

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Waterborne viruses are widespread and persistent in the environment. Coagulation is an effective process for mitigating viruses in drinking water. This review examines recent studies of virus mitigation by coagulation processes in the context of the latest scientific advances. Virus sorption is impacted by electrostatic forces, as well as the hydrophobic effect, steric hindrance, hydrodynamics and interactions with the water matrix. Organic matter in the water may hinder or enhance sorption, depending on virus structure and environmental factors. In addition to physical separation in flocs, coagulation processes have been shown to inactivate viruses. This review evaluates reports of virus inactivation …

Design And Resistance Factor Calibration Of Pipe Piles In California, Yujie Hu

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Steel pipe piles, either open ended or close ended, are widely used in the state of California as bridge foundations due to high load bearing capacity, light weight, and outstanding workability. The design methods currently used by Caltrans were developed based on limited field data and are lack of field validations of the recent development of steel pipe piles. In this thesis study, 45 high quality steel pipe pile load tests performed in various soil conditions were collected from Caltrans’ load test data to evaluate available design methods and calibrate the resistance factors of selected design methods. A total of …

Potential Application Of Ultra-High Performance Fiber-Reinforced Concrete With Wet-Mix Shotcrete System In Tunneling, Jean Gamarra

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

In the tunneling industry, shotcrete has been used for several decades. The use of shotcrete or wet-mix spray-on methods allows the application of this method in complex underground profiles and shapes. The need for time efficient spraying methods and constructability for lining coverage opens the door for technologies like steel and synthetic fiber reinforced shotcrete to achieve a uniform and a good quality product. An important advantage of the application of fiber reinforced concrete in shotcrete systems for tunneling is that almost no steel fixing is required. This leads to several other advantages including safer working conditions during excavation, less …

Strengthening Of Lightweight Reinforced Concrete Beams Using Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (Cfrp), Tariq Al Jaafreh

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

This research aimed to investigate the effect of utilizing “Fiber Reinforced Polymer” (FRP) on the light weight concrete beams. The main hypothesis is that such utilization of the FRP will lead to strengthened lightweight beams. The research that has been done on this relationship is somewhat broad in the scope and have mostly focused on the normal-weight concrete. However, only few studies that have considered the light weight concrete. Eight Beams were tested in this research under four point bending test. Two beams were taken as a control beams without any external bonding of Carbon Fiber Reinforced polymer. Another two …

Comparison Of Construction Methods For Building An Underground Freight Transportation In Texas, Niloofar Rezaei

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Freight transportation by trucks constitutes approximately 80% of total freight transportation in Texas and it is expected to approximately double by the year 2040. Social and environmental costs are adverse impacts of moving freights by trucks. Underground Freight Transportation (UFT) significantly reduces these negative impacts and is more sustainable method of freight transportation. UFT includes close-fitting vehicles carrying freight through underground pipelines or tunnels between terminals. The main objective of this research is to compare two construction methods: (1) tunneling using tunnel boring machine (TBM) and (2) tunneling using open-cut. To conduct this research, a comprehensive literature search on various …

Enhancing Productivity By Using Building Information Modeling Applications In Pipeline Construction Projects, Harsha Vardhan Reddy Guduru Penusila

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a technology and associated set of processes to produce, communicate, and analyze building models. BIM is a new concept within the construction industry. The objective of this thesis is to utilize BIM in pipeline construction projects as one of the pioneering steps to reduce rework and delays due to unforeseen conditions. This thesis presents evaluation and recommendations to help pipeline construction industry’s transition from traditional two-dimensional drawings to a BIM management process aiding owners and contractors to develop and implement a basic form of BIM technique to manage their projects. This thesis uses two pipeline …

Enhanced Seismic Performance Of Special Truss Moment Frames And Staggered Truss Framing System For Seismically Active Areas, Sanputt Simasathien

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Due to their ability to achieve large column-free floor spaces, special truss moment frames (STMFs) and staggered truss frames (STFs) are unique valuable options for structural engineers. However, although STMFs and STFs offer a wide range of structural, architectural, and economical benefits, limited research data is available on the seismic performance of these systems. STMF system is a relatively new type of steel framing system for use in high seismic areas. STMFs dissipate earthquake energy through ductile special segments located near the mid-span of the truss girders, while the other members outside the special segment, including truss members, columns, and …

Investigation Of Strength-Enhancement Mechanism And Size Effect On Ultimate Shear Strength Of Steel Fiber-Reinforced Concrete (Sfrc) Slender Beams, Mohammad Reza Zarrinpour

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

This research study consists of two separate phases. In the first phase, an experimental study was conducted to identify the shear-enhancement and failure mechanisms behind the ultimate shear strength of steel fiber-reinforced concrete (SFRC) slender beams by utilizing the full field deformation measuring capability of digital image correlation (DIC) technology. A total of 12 large-scale simply supported SFRC and RC beams with a range of heights including 12 in. (305 mm), 18 in. (457 mm), 24 in. (610 mm), 36 in. (915 mm), and 48 in. (1220 mm) were tested under monotonic point load. The greater shear strength in SFRC …