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2020

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Articles 481 - 510 of 570

Full-Text Articles in Civil Engineering

Design And Analysis Of A Pavement Marker Detection System, Timothy L. Johnson Ii Jan 2020

Design And Analysis Of A Pavement Marker Detection System, Timothy L. Johnson Ii

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Personal injuries and property damage due to the failure of snow-plowable pavement markers which detach from pavement surfaces has led to the development of new all-plastic pavement markers which are located entirely below the planar surface of the pavement. The new all-plastic design pushes existing solutions used to avoid striping over highway reflectors into obsolescence since current solutions operate using electromagnets to sense the metal housings of snow-plowable pavement markers. A replacement solution is currently sought by the highway maintenance industry and three different marker detection methods were developed and tested on real-world highways with both new and aging pavement …

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Variance Decomposition Of Forecasted Water Budget And Sediment Processes Under Changing Climate In Fluvial And Fluviokarst Systems, Nabil Al Aamery Jan 2020

Variance Decomposition Of Forecasted Water Budget And Sediment Processes Under Changing Climate In Fluvial And Fluviokarst Systems, Nabil Al Aamery

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Variance decomposition is the partitioning of different factors affecting the variance structure of a response variable. The present research focuses on future streamflow and sediment transport processes projections as the response variables. The authors propose using numerous climate factors and hydrological modeling factors that can cause any response variable to vary from historic to future conditions in any given watershed system. The climate modeling factors include global climate model, downscaling method, emission scenario, project phase, bias correction. The hydrological modeling factor includes hydrological model parametrization, and meteorological variable inclusion in the analysis. This research uses a wide spectrum of data, …

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Reliability Assessment And Optimization Of Water Distribution Systems Explicitly Considering Isolation Valve Locations, Erika Hernandez Hernandez Jan 2020

Reliability Assessment And Optimization Of Water Distribution Systems Explicitly Considering Isolation Valve Locations, Erika Hernandez Hernandez

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Water distribution systems have changed the landscape of communities through two services: 1) providing water supply for domestic and industrial use, and 2) providing water required to fight fires. However, a substantial portion of the water infrastructure in the country, as many of other public assets built over 50 years ago, are now reaching the end of their useful life; which combined with rapid growth and changes in demographics have placed water distribution pipe networks at a state that requires revitalization. The aging infrastructure along with the growing threat of natural and man-made disruptions have led water utilities to place …

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Subsurface Characterization Of Internally Eroded Soils In Karst Using The Cone Penetration Test, Ryan Shamet Jan 2020

Subsurface Characterization Of Internally Eroded Soils In Karst Using The Cone Penetration Test, Ryan Shamet

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Sinkholes are a major geohazard with life-threatening consequences when not properly detected and mitigated. Geologic conditions comprised of soluble bedrock (e.g., limestone or other carbonate-based lithologies) overlain by fine-grained sandy and clayey soils, are known internationally as "karst topography" and is generally characterized by such sinkholes, caves, sinking streams, and highly variable groundwater flow conditions. Karst sinkholes, however, are complex geohazards and are difficult to precisely characterize through geotechnical considerations alone. Deterministic methods (e.g., analytical and numerical solutions) may provide for a more robust analysis of internal soil erosion (known as soil raveling) but have limitations for the practical use …

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Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation Of Rain-Wind-Induced Vibration Of Stay Cables, Hongfan Wang Jan 2020

Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation Of Rain-Wind-Induced Vibration Of Stay Cables, Hongfan Wang

Dissertations and Theses

Due to the large amplitude, frequent occurrence and severe consequences, the rain-wind induced vibration (RWIV) of stay cables in cable-stayed bridges has been investigated extensively by researchers around the world. However, the underlying excitation mechanism is still unclear. Recently, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation has been widely applied in the research on structure vibrations due to dynamic wind loads, with great potential as an alternative tool for wind tunnel testing. It has also been adopted to investigate the RWIV, but only a few studies have been conducted so far. Furthermore, most of the CFD simulations reported in literatures are two-dimensional, …

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Methodology For Quantifying Resiliency Of Transportation Systems, Hannah Rose Russell Jan 2020

Methodology For Quantifying Resiliency Of Transportation Systems, Hannah Rose Russell

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The National Science Foundation’s definition of resiliency is “the ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, recover from, or more successfully adapt to actual or potential adverse events” (National Science Foundation, 2016). While this definition is informative and useful, it lacks a quantitative reference. There is a need for a method of quantifying resilience to better plan and prepare for system wide disruptions. The research effort described herein provides a quantifiable measures of system resiliency, consistent with NSF’s definition. Fundamentally, a system disruption can be partitioned into five distinctive states: the stable pre-event state, the absorption state, the disrupted state, …

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Peak Pressures On Low Rise Buildings: Cfd With Les Versus Full Scale And Wind Tunnel Measurements, Aly Mousaad Aly, Hamzeh Gol-Zaroudi Jan 2020

Peak Pressures On Low Rise Buildings: Cfd With Les Versus Full Scale And Wind Tunnel Measurements, Aly Mousaad Aly, Hamzeh Gol-Zaroudi

Faculty Publications

This paper focuses on the processes of wind flow in the atmospheric boundary layer, to produce realistic full-scale pressures for the design of low-rise buildings. CFD with LES turbulence closure is implemented on a scale 1:1 prototype building. A proximity study was executed computationally in CFD with LES that suggests new recommendations on the computational domain size, in front of a building model, apart from common RANS-based guidelines (e.g. COST and AIJ). Our findings suggest a location of the test building, different from existing guidelines, and the inflow boundary proximity influences pressure correlation and reproduction of peak loads. The CFD …

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Upstream Water Flow At Kotri Barrage, Sindh Pakistan, Rakhshinda Bano, Mehdi Khiadani, Steven Burian Jan 2020

Upstream Water Flow At Kotri Barrage, Sindh Pakistan, Rakhshinda Bano, Mehdi Khiadani, Steven Burian

Research Datasets

The dataset contains the water flow data at Kotri barrage, Sindh Pakistan

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Progressive Collapse Assessment Of Post-Tensioned Reinforced Concrete Flat Slab Structures Using Aem, Amgad Mahrous, Mariam Ehab, Hamed Hadhoud Jan 2020

Progressive Collapse Assessment Of Post-Tensioned Reinforced Concrete Flat Slab Structures Using Aem, Amgad Mahrous, Mariam Ehab, Hamed Hadhoud

Civil Engineering

Progressive collapse is defined as the failure of a primary vertical element of a structure, which may result in the failure of adjoining elements, consequently, leads to a partial or total collapse of the structure. Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC) and General Services Administration (GSA) guidelines used to assess the behavior of structures subjected to progressive collapse as a result of the loss of primary vertical support. For the current case study, numerical analysis is carried out for a typical ten-story reinforced concrete post-tensioned flat slab structure subjected to primary vertical element loss (corner column, edge column, internal column, edge shear …

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Experimental And Field Evaluation Of Frp Pedestrian Bridge Decks, Kalrav Singh Tomer Jan 2020

Experimental And Field Evaluation Of Frp Pedestrian Bridge Decks, Kalrav Singh Tomer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Traditional materials such as steel, timber, and concrete have continued to dominate their usage in civil infrastructure. They offer great advantages like strength and stiffness but at the same time they pose major issues in terms of durability and maintenance. Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) exhibits outstanding properties like lightness, excellent corrosion and wear resistance along with superior thermo-mechanical properties. Glass FRPs (GFRPs) have emerged as one of the best alternatives in the field of civil infrastructure. It has been more than four decades since fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have gained notable applications in civil infrastructure industry. However, FRPs have …

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An In-Depth Investigation Of The Effects Of Work-Related Factors On The Development Of Knee Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Construction Roofers, Amrita Dutta Jan 2020

An In-Depth Investigation Of The Effects Of Work-Related Factors On The Development Of Knee Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Construction Roofers, Amrita Dutta

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Construction roofers have the uppermost likelihood of developing knee musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Roofers spend more than 75% of their total working time being restricted to awkward kneeling postures and repetitive motions in a sloped roof setting. However, the combined effect of knee-straining posture, roof slope and their association to knee MSDs among roofers are still unknown. This dissertation aimed to provide empirical evidence of the effects of two roofing work-related factors namely, roof slope and kneeling working posture, on the development of knee MSDs among construction roofers. These two factors were assessed as potential to increase knee MSD risks in …

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Impacts Of Bike Sharing On Transit Ridership, Moathe Salah Aljeri Jan 2020

Impacts Of Bike Sharing On Transit Ridership, Moathe Salah Aljeri

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Biking is an active, environmentally friendly, and sustainable transportation mode that facilitates short utilitarian and recreational trips. As such, cities around the world have been implementing bicycle sharing/renting programs at stations in a wide network so that a traveler can mount one close to their origins and drop it off at a station nearest to their destinations. In addition, bike sharing programs can solve the first-mile and last-mile connectivity problems of transit modes. Such programs also enable short trips that were previously impossible without using transit modes. This research investigated the relationship between New York City (NYC) subway ridership and …

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Selective Precipitation And Recovery Of Rare Earth Elements From Acid Mine Drainage, Robyn Lauren Christoferson Jan 2020

Selective Precipitation And Recovery Of Rare Earth Elements From Acid Mine Drainage, Robyn Lauren Christoferson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The ability to secure rare earth elements (REEs) in the United States is of concern due to the rapid growth in demand and the monopolistic supply chain. The demand for REEs has skyrocketed in recent years due to the development of many green technologies. The United States and many other countries are currently reliant on China for REEs, who currently control greater than 90% of the global supply. Due to the severe impact of previous Chinese export quotas, it is important to lessen the reliance on importation and explore methods of recycling REEs from secondary sources. A secondary REE source …

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Study On The Thermal Properties Of Concrete Containing Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag, Fly Ash And Steel Reinforcement, Bekir Erdem Bas Jan 2020

Study On The Thermal Properties Of Concrete Containing Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag, Fly Ash And Steel Reinforcement, Bekir Erdem Bas

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In this study, the thermal and mechanical properties of two types of concrete were measured. The first type contained ground granulated blast furnace slag, and the second type contained Class F fly ash. The compressive and splitting tensile strength, static elastic modulus, thermal conductivity, adiabatic temperature rise, shrinkage, and compressive creep of the two concretes were measured. Then, the experimental shrinkage and compressive creep results were compared to ACI 209.2R-08 using the material properties of each mix design. Additionally, two semi-adiabatic designs were made and compared with the adiabatic calorimetry measurements. Also, in this study, the thermal conductivity of concrete …

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Advanced Econometic Models For Modeling Flows: Application To Shared Economy, Bibhas Dey Jan 2020

Advanced Econometic Models For Modeling Flows: Application To Shared Economy, Bibhas Dey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Travel and tourism industry is undergoing transformation with the flourishing of online sharing economy marketplaces such as Bike Share services, Uber/Lyft (for taxi services), Eatwith (for community restaurants), and AirBnB (for accommodation). The current research effort contributes to literature on sharing economy service flow analysis by formulating and estiamting econometric approaches for analyzing frequency variables. The sharing economy alternatives investigated include: (a) accommodation service (AirBnB), (b) bikeshare service (Citi bike, NYC) and (c) ride hailing service (UBER/LYFT/Taxi). In the first part of the dissertation, we develop a copula based negative binomial count model framework to count AirBnB listings at census …

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Seismic Design Optimization Of Steel Structures Using Genetic Algorithm, Tiancheng Wang Jan 2020

Seismic Design Optimization Of Steel Structures Using Genetic Algorithm, Tiancheng Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Current seismic codes do not incorporate a well-established methodology for the selection of passive dampers type and their topological distribution and properties along the height of structures. Achieving the intended performance is made more complicated when structures are subject to extreme events and operate well within their inelastic range. This thesis utilizes a self-organizing genetic algorithm (soGA) with probabilistic gene-by-gene crossover and an adaptive active ground motion subset scheme to efficiently find optimal designs of low-rise steel frames subject to large number of extreme ground motions. Different types of passive dampers were considered, while the steel frames were modeled using …

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An Investigation Of Life Cycle Sustainability Implications Of Emerging Heavy-Duty Truck Technologies In The Age Of Autonomy, Burak Sen Jan 2020

An Investigation Of Life Cycle Sustainability Implications Of Emerging Heavy-Duty Truck Technologies In The Age Of Autonomy, Burak Sen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Heavy-duty trucks (HDTs) play a central role in U.S. freight transportation, carrying most of the goods across the country. The projected increase in freight activity (e.g. truck-miles-traveled) raises concerns regarding the potential sustainability impacts of the U.S. freight industry, marking HDTs as an ideal domain for improving the sustainability performance of U.S. freight transportation. However, the transition to sustainable trucking is a challenging task, for which multiple sustainability objectives must be considered and addressed under a variety of emerging HDT technologies while composing a sustainable HDT fleet. To gain insights into the sustainability implications of emerging HDT technologies as well …

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การปรับปรุงสะพานทางหลวงจากผลกระทบแผ่นดินไหวด้วยระบบแยกฐานและการเสริมค่าความหน่วงโดยใช้เหล็กเดือย, ยงศักดิ์ จิวะตระกูลธรรม Jan 2020

การปรับปรุงสะพานทางหลวงจากผลกระทบแผ่นดินไหวด้วยระบบแยกฐานและการเสริมค่าความหน่วงโดยใช้เหล็กเดือย, ยงศักดิ์ จิวะตระกูลธรรม

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

การออกแบบโครงสร้างสะพานภายใต้แรงแผ่นดินไหวด้วยระบบแยกฐาน สามารถลดผลกระทบที่เกิดจากแรงกระทำได้เป็นอย่างดี แต่ในขณะเดียวกันกลับทำให้โครงสร้างสะพานส่วนบนเกิดการเคลื่อนตัวที่มากขึ้นเป็นผลให้เกิดการชนกันระหว่างชิ้นส่วน และเกิดการวิบัติจากระยะรองรับช่วงสะพานที่ไม่เพียงพอ งานวิจัยนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์ในการศึกษาผลตอบสนองของชิ้นส่วนโครงสร้างสะพานที่ถูกออกแบบด้วยระบบแยกฐานและใช้เหล็กเดือยช่วยในการสลายพลังงานและลดการเคลื่อนที่ของคาน ซึ่งจะทำการวิเคราะห์โครงสร้างด้วยวิธีการไฟไนต์อิลิเมนต์ โดยใช้โปรแกรม SAP2000 การศึกษาเลือกพิจารณาสะพานแบบคานคอนกรีตอัดแรงรูปตัวไอ มีความยาวช่วงเสา 20 เมตร ทั้งหมด 5 ช่วง มีการติดตั้งแผ่นยางรองคานสะพานเป็นอุปกรณ์แยกฐาน นอกจากนี้จะทำการคัดเลือกคลื่นแผ่นดินไหวให้สอดคล้องกับการสั่นไหวของพื้นดินที่เกิดขึ้นใน จังหวัดเชียงใหม่ ประเทศไทย หลังจากทำการสร้างแบบจำลองจะทำการวิเคราะห์โครงสร้างด้วยวิธีการวิเคราะห์การตอบสนองไม่เชิงเส้นแบบประวัติเวลา โดยจะทำการเปรียบเทียบผลการตอบสนองของโครงสร้างสะพานทั้งก่อนและหลังการปรับปรุงโดยใช้เหล็กเดือย ซึ่งจะพิจารณาในกรณีที่เพิ่มความหนาของแผ่นยางรองคานสะพานจากเดิมขนาด 20 เป็น 100 มิลลิเมตร และทำการติดตั้งเหล็กเดือยขนาดเส้นผ่านศูนย์กลาง 25 มิลลิเมตร เป็นอุปกรณ์ยึดรั้ง ผลการศึกษาพบว่าการเลือกปรับปรุงโดยการเลือกใช้เหล็กเดือยจำนวน 2 ชิ้น ติดตั้งในระนาบที่ยึดรั้งบริเวณจุดรองรับของโครงสร้างสะพานส่วนบนกับโครงสร้างสะพานส่วนล่าง ให้ผลการตอบสนองที่เหมาะสมมากกว่ากรณีก่อนการปรับปรุง โดยระยะการเคลื่อนตัวสูงสุดของคานรองรับแผ่นพื้นลดลงจาก 64 เป็น 51 มิลลิเมตร คิดเป็นร้อยละ 20 และยังช่วยลดผลการตอบสนองของโครงสร้างสะพานส่วนล่าง โดยเสาตอม่อเกิดการครากเพียงเล็กน้อย นอกจากนี้แรงเฉือนสูงสุดที่ฐานลดลงร้อยละ 22 เมื่อเทียบกับกรณีก่อนการปรับปรุงโครงสร้างสะพาน

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การพัฒนาผนังสลายพลังงานแบบวิสโคอิลาสติก, ฐิติพงศ์ เจริญสุข Jan 2020

การพัฒนาผนังสลายพลังงานแบบวิสโคอิลาสติก, ฐิติพงศ์ เจริญสุข

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

งานวิจัยนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์ในการศึกษาพัฒนาผนังสลายพลังงานแบบวิสโคอิลาสติก (Viscoelastic wall dampers) ด้วยวัสดุ Asphalt (ยางมะตอย) และ Polyisobutene (PIB) แม้ว่าในปัจจุบันมีผู้ผลิตอุปกรณ์สลายพลังงานสำหรับอาคารเพื่อต้านทานแผ่นดินไหวและแรงลมจำหน่าย แต่มีราคาแพงเพราะต้องนำเข้าจากต่างประเทศ ทั้งมีค่าใช้จ่ายในการติดตั้งและบำรุงรักษาที่สูง นอกจากนั้นยังพบว่า ส่วนใหญ่มีรูปแบบที่กระทบต่อความสวยงามด้านสถาปัตยกรรม ในงานวิจัยนี้จึงพิจารณาถึงความเป็นไปได้ในการพัฒนาผนังสลายพลังงานแบบวิสโคอิลาสติกด้วยวัสดุที่มีราคาไม่แพง มีรูปแบบคล้ายผนังอาคารทั่วไปเพื่อไม่กระทบต่อความสวยงามของอาคาร โดยทำการพัฒนาแบบจำลองทางคณิตศาสตร์ของผนังสลายพลังงานจากการทดสอบชิ้นงานตัวอย่างขนาดย่อส่วนในห้องปฏิบัติการ ภายใต้แรงกระทำแบบวัฏจักร (Cyclic testing) ตามมาตรฐาน ASCE 7-16 ผลการทดลองแสดงให้เห็นว่าวัสดุ PIB มีคุณสมบัติในการสลายพลังงานที่ดี และมีเสถียรภาพภายใต้การเปลี่ยนแปลงอุณหภูมิ จึงนำแบบจำลองทางคณิตศาสตร์ของผนังสลายพลังงานชนิด PIB มาประมาณคุณสมบัติของผนังสลายพลังงานขนาดเท่าของจริง เพื่อเปรียบเทียบประสิทธิภาพในการสลายพลังงานกับผลิตภัณฑ์ผนังสลายพลังงานแบบหนืด (Viscous Wall Damper) ของต่างประเทศ ผลการศึกษาพบว่าผนังสลายพลังงานแบบวิสโคอิลาสติคที่พัฒนามีประสิทธิภาพในการสลายพลังงานดีกว่าผนังสลายพลังงานแบบหนืดอย่างมีนัยสำคัญ ทำให้สามารถลดขนาดและจำนวนผนังสลายพลังงานที่ต้องติดตั้งในอาคารได้ จึงเป็นอีกหนึ่งทางเลือกในการออกแบบต้านทานแผ่นดินไหวและแรงลมที่อาจประหยัดและมีประสิทธิภาพกว่าวิธีการปกติที่นิยมเพิ่มขนาดส่วนโครงสร้างให้มีกำลังหรือสติฟเนสมากขึ้น

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Optical Fiber Based Integrity Test Of Civil Engineering Materials: Numerical Analysis, Ruoyu Zhong Jan 2020

Optical Fiber Based Integrity Test Of Civil Engineering Materials: Numerical Analysis, Ruoyu Zhong

Masters Theses

“Major advancement in Civil Engineering cannot be accomplished without the help of sensors. Among different types of sensors, fiber-optic sensor is known for its light weight, high accuracy, resolution, immunity to electromagnetic interference, and resistance to harsh environment. This research mainly focuses on fiber-optic sensor application on concrete structures as temperature sensor. Thermal Integrity Profiling (TIP) is a non-destructive integrity testing method which makes use of the hydration heat from the concrete curing process to detect defects within a drilled shaft. Any defect of concrete could result in a temperature anomaly in a drilled shaft. The accuracy of the current …

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Feasibility Study On Novel Fire-Resistant Coating Materials, Anyou Zhu Jan 2020

Feasibility Study On Novel Fire-Resistant Coating Materials, Anyou Zhu

Masters Theses

“Over the past decades, wildfires in the United States have caused severe damage and property losses. The California Camp Fire in November 2018 caused 85 civilian fatalities and destroyed 18,793 structures. There is a need to enhance the fire resistance of structures and buildings. The primary purpose of this study was to develop innovative surface-bonded fire-resistant material that can be used as a wall coating with three primary features: (a) workability for application, (b) enough adhesion to the surface of the structure, (c) fire-resistant. This research developed mix designs of innovative fire-resistant coating materials including high-performance cement mortar (HPCM), geopolymer …

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Seismic Response Mitigation Of Base-Isolated Buildings, Mohammad Hamayoun Stanikzai, Said Elias, Rajesh Rupakhety Jan 2020

Seismic Response Mitigation Of Base-Isolated Buildings, Mohammad Hamayoun Stanikzai, Said Elias, Rajesh Rupakhety

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Earthquake response mitigation of a base-isolated (BI) building equipped with (i) a single tuned mass damper at the top of the building, (ii) multiple tuned mass dampers (MTMDs) at the top of the building, and (iii) MTMDs distributed on different floors of the building (d-MTMDs) is studied. The shear-type buildings are modeled by considering only one lateral degree of freedom (DOF) at the floor level. Numerical approach of Newmark's integration is adopted for solving the coupled, governing differential equations of motion of 5- and 10-story BI buildings with and without TMD schemes. A set of 40 earthquake ground motions, scaled …

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Structural And Environmental Impact Of New-Generation Wide-Base Tires In New Brunswick, Canada, Izak M. Said, Jaime Hernandez, Seunggu Kang, Imad L. Al-Qadi Jan 2020

Structural And Environmental Impact Of New-Generation Wide-Base Tires In New Brunswick, Canada, Izak M. Said, Jaime Hernandez, Seunggu Kang, Imad L. Al-Qadi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

The loading and environmental impacts of new-generation wide-base tires (NG-WBT) and dual tire assemblies (DTA) on typical asphalt concrete (AC) pavement sections of New Brunswick, Canada were evaluated using finite element method (FEM) analysis and life-cycle assessment. The impact of steering wheel was not considered in this study. The analysis considered realistic material models and loading conditions (i.e. AC viscoelastic characteristics and measured three-dimensional nonuniform tire–pavement contact loads). Predicted critical pavement responses were used in transfer functions to determine potential pavement damage. The NG-WBT loading resulted in greater critical pavement responses compared to that of DTA, especially near the surface …

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Liana Abundance And Diversity Increase With Rainfall Seasonality Along A Precipitation Gradient In Panama, Anthony J. Parolari, Kassandra Paul, Aaron H. Griffing, Richard Condit, Ronaldo Perez, Salomón Aguilar, Stefan A. Schnitzer Jan 2020

Liana Abundance And Diversity Increase With Rainfall Seasonality Along A Precipitation Gradient In Panama, Anthony J. Parolari, Kassandra Paul, Aaron H. Griffing, Richard Condit, Ronaldo Perez, Salomón Aguilar, Stefan A. Schnitzer

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

In tropical regions, rainfall gradients often explain the abundance and distribution of plant species. For example, many tree and liana species adapted to seasonal drought are more abundant and diverse in seasonally-dry forests, characterized by long periods of seasonal water deficit. Mean annual precipitation (MAP) is commonly used to explain plant distributions across climate gradients. However, the relationship between MAP and plant distribution is often weak, raising the question of whether other seasonal precipitation patterns better explain plant distributions in seasonally-dry forests. In this study, we examine the relationship between liana abundance and multiple metrics of seasonal and annual rainfall …

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Lagrangian Relaxation Method For Integrated Vehicles And Drones Routing Model, Perawit Charoenwut Jan 2020

Lagrangian Relaxation Method For Integrated Vehicles And Drones Routing Model, Perawit Charoenwut

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Nowadays, e-commerce increases parcel transportation demand year by year. Many companies are seeking the way to improve performance of delivery service and cost-efficiency. One among many solutions is using a drone attached with a truck for the last mile delivery. A drone can be launched from either depot or truck and returned to the depot or wait for the truck to take them back from the docking station around the delivery area. The vehicle routing problem with drones considers truck- and drone-route simultaneously. It is an enormous problem that cannot be solved by a normal linear programming method. This research …

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Tracing Sources Of Natural Organic Matter, Trihalomethanes And Metals In Groundwater From A Karst Region, Connie O'Driscoll, Eoin Mcgillicuddy, Peter Croot, Pamela Bartley, John Mcmyler, Jerome Sheahan, Liam Morrison Jan 2020

Tracing Sources Of Natural Organic Matter, Trihalomethanes And Metals In Groundwater From A Karst Region, Connie O'Driscoll, Eoin Mcgillicuddy, Peter Croot, Pamela Bartley, John Mcmyler, Jerome Sheahan, Liam Morrison

Articles

Groundwater offers an important source for drinking water around the world; however, groundwater quality is under increasing pressure and is particularly vulnerable in karst areas. Total organic carbon (TOC) is significantly related to groundwater quality and when not removed by water treatment processes can give rise to the formation of disinfection by-products trihalomethanes (THMs) above the level of compliance. This study investigated the source of organic matter giving rise to the THM exceedances in a groundwater supply in a karst area. Results highlighted that source water for this groundwater supply was prone to surface water infiltration linked to rainfall events; …

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Rpas: An Enhanced Finite Element Code For The Mechanistic Analysis Of Rigid Pavements, Nancy Aguirre Jan 2020

Rpas: An Enhanced Finite Element Code For The Mechanistic Analysis Of Rigid Pavements, Nancy Aguirre

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Significant amount of research has been conducted to improve the design of rigid pavements through the development of mechanistic analysis tools capable of accurately modeling the performance of such pavements. The use of the finite element (FE) method as a comprehensive tool for modeling the responses of rigid pavements has been limited in the past because of the complexity of calculations in modeling nonlinear behaviors, which are difficult to describe mathematically and computationally. Researchers from The University of Texas at El Paso developed NYSLAB, an FE modeling tool, for the analysis of rigid pavements subjected to traffic and environmental loading …

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Assessment Of Hydraulic And Structural Behavior Of Inundated Pavements, Mojtaba Asadi Jan 2020

Assessment Of Hydraulic And Structural Behavior Of Inundated Pavements, Mojtaba Asadi

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Severe flooding events have increasingly inundated the transportation infrastructure, including road networks, across the world and the Unites States. Such extreme events induce significant ingress of water into the pavement layers, which in turn leads to structural defects due to the reduction of the shear strength and resilient moduli of the soil layers, asphalt stripping in flexible pavements, pumping effect in rigid pavements, migration of fines into drainable layers, and swelling of expansive soils. Consequently, premature pavement failure may take place that can impose unforeseen maintenance/rehabilitation costs to highway agencies. Although some experimental research studies have been conducted to assess …

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Extracting Mechanical Properties Of Compacted Geomaterials Using Intelligent Compaction Technology, Aria Fathi Jan 2020

Extracting Mechanical Properties Of Compacted Geomaterials Using Intelligent Compaction Technology, Aria Fathi

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The primary tool currently used for quality management of earthwork and unbound aggregates is the nuclear density gauge (NDG) to ensure appropriate density and moisture content. Measurement of moisture content and dry density, even though quite practical and straightforward, does not directly tie the construction quality with the mechanistic-empirical design processes where stress and modulus are employed. With the recent popularity of the mechanistic pavement design procedures, research efforts have been undertaken to understand and develop procedures for implementing modulus-based quality control (QC) procedures of compacted geomaterials. These procedures involve the use of in-situ nondestructive testing (NDT) devices that estimate …

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Development Of A Framework For The Calibration Of Rpas, A 3d Finite Element Analysis Tool For Rigid Pavements, Abbasali Taghavighalesari Jan 2020

Development Of A Framework For The Calibration Of Rpas, A 3d Finite Element Analysis Tool For Rigid Pavements, Abbasali Taghavighalesari

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The accurate analysis of rigid pavements requires a reliable modeling procedure based on integrating mechanistic analysis methods (i.e. closed-form solutions or numerical methods) and empirical observations (i.e. field measurements and laboratory test results). The use of the finite element method to model the response of rigid pavements has increased in recent decades due to its capability to incorporate the complexity of material behavior, traffic information, and environmental condition. Researchers from the University of Texas at El Paso developed the software Rigid Pavement Analysis System (RPAS) to comprehensively analyze the response of concrete pavements under different geometric configurations, foundation models, temperature …

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