Structural Engineering Commons^™

Analysis Of Tensegrity Structures Using Abaqus, Kayla M. Allen

Honors College Theses

This project involves modeling and analysis of a tensegrity structure using the finite element approach utilizing the Abaqus software package. A tensegrity structure is a special type of assembly consisting of a series of straight solid members, arranged in various geometrical configurations in three-dimensional space and held together by series of cables. The developed finite element models for several tensegrity structures are included in this thesis report to better describe the project.

Temperature Gradient Effects On Behavior And Design Of Prestressed Concrete Girder Bridges, Ahmed Saad Elsayed Mohamed Elshoura

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Temperature variation is an inevitable environmental loading type that affects bridges. Considering temperature effects during structural design is deemed essential for short, medium, and long span bridges. Temperature loading can be categorized into three components; uniform temperature, vertical temperature gradient, and transverse temperature gradient. Temperature variation causes additional movements, stresses, and internal forces that should be considered in the design of bridges. In this study, the temperature effects of vertical and transverse temperature gradients are investigated for continuous prestressed concrete bridges.

Thermal restraint moments induced by vertical temperature gradients on prestrssed concrete bridges are investigated by performing three-dimensional (3D) finite …

Performance Of Waterborne Intumescent Coating With Hybrid Industrial And Biofillers For Steel Protection, Khairunisa Md Nasir

Student Works (2020-2029)

In recent decades, the disastrous accidents caused by damaged steel structure in the event of the fire have reminded people of the risk of fire in industrial buildings. The use of intumescent coatings is one of the most efficient methods to protect materials against fire. The coating comprises three active elements bounded together with a binder, which then reacts together at higher temperatures. Under the action of heat, the coating expands and forms a thick porous char layer to insulate the substance, thereby prolonging the building from collapsing under severe fire conditions. Considering ecological issues, the use of waterborne resin …

A Critical Analysis Of The Application Of Augmented Reality (Ar) For Monitoring And Documentation Of Construction Site Progress In The Irish Aec Industry., Bim Tudublin, Lukasz Sarnot

Capstone Reports

Sarnot, L. (2021) A critical analysis of the application of augmented reality (AR) for monitoring and documentation of construction site progress in the Irish AEC industry, Capstone Project from the MSc in aBIMM

Climate Resilience: Examination Of Revised Heat Transfer Models In The Enhanced Integrated Climatic Model For Pavement Temperature Prediction, Austin Michael Jarrell

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The Mechanistic Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) is commonly referenced as the state-of-the-practice for the analysis and design of new and rehabilitated pavement assets. The Enhanced Integrated Climatic Model (EICM) incorporated within the MEPDG is a well-recognized and standardized method for estimating temperature profiles in pavements; temperature is a portion of the climate inputs in the MEPDG. Many have already begun to convert atmospheric temperature predictions from externally based climate models into the MEPDG to create robust designs for climate change. As pavement designers and researchers seek robust solutions while formulating resilient pavement designs, it is likely that the EICM …

To What Extent Can Innovative International Project Delivery Strategies (Which Leverage Bim) Improve The Cost Certainty Of Large Complex Public Procurement Projects In The Context Of Irish Public Procurement?, Bim Tudublin, Roqaya Abouklaib

Capstone Reports

Cost overrun is one of the biggest issues in the construction sector, and cost certainty is one of the main aims of the public construction sector in Ireland. Studies have shown that multi-disciplinary collaboration will benefit a construction project throughout its lifecycle. BIM, Lean, and IPD are independent methodologies that encourage collaborative work, and there are existent effective synergies among these concepts. The synergetic innovative international strategies were utilised for delivering large complex projects successfully globally, and many authors have studied large complex public projects that have adopted innovative international project delivery strategies collaboratively and have shown that the cost …

Opportunities In The Irish Reinforced Concrete Industry For Lean And Bim Adoption, Bim Tudublin, Kieran Mcconnell

Capstone Reports

The Irish Reinforced Concrete (RC) sector has yet to realise the full potential of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Lean construction. The positive impacts and benefits of both BIM and Lean in the wider Architecture, Engineering and Construction sector are widely recognised; many of these are transferable to the RC sector, but there is limited research and knowledge on practical transference, uses and advantages. This research aims to fill some of the existing knowledge gaps by examining BIM and Lean adoption and awareness in the Irish RC sector across sub-sectors, professions, and organisational levels, and by exploring opportunities for increasing …

A Critical Examination Of Visual Programming And Generative Design For The Compliance Checking Of Open Plan Office Layouts Against Hse Guidelines Post Covid-19., Bim Tudublin, Ronan Byrne

Capstone Reports

The purpose of this study is to explore the feasibility of Visual Programming (VP) and Generative Design (GD) in assisting employers review open plan office layouts against Ireland’s HSE guidelines implemented in May 2020 in response to Covid-19. The pandemic has affected all areas of life with workplace standards requiring a complete overhaul. This study will attempt to ascertain compliance with natural ventilation and social distancing requirements through the completion of an experimental research study, utilising Computational Design (CD) tools. A GD study will be undertaken to provide the designer with numerous office layout design solutions to evaluate and evolve. …

Should Acoustic Simulation Technology Be Utilised In Architectural Practice? Does It Have The Potential For Bim Integration?, Bim Tudublin, Keith Harvey

Capstone Reports

The research presented in this paper, firstly, aims to convey the importance of our acoustic environment through focusing on the effects of undesirable acoustic conditions on cognitive abilities in spaces where cognitive performance is of the utmost concern, our learning environments. Secondly, it aims to investigate current state-of-the-art acoustic simulation methods, available platforms, and their levels of interoperability with architectural BIM authoring software. Structured interviews were carried out with 7 Irish architects and architectural technologists to determine if a disconnection between architectural design and acoustic performance exists and to identify the advantages and disadvantages of current workflows for acoustic performance …

An Approach To Mapping The Development Of Professional Skills In A Structural Engineering Programme, Patrick Crean, Dervilla Niall, Una Beagon, Aimee Byrne, Darren Carthy, Caitríona De Paor, Louise Lynch

Conference Papers

Engineers of the future will be presented with complicated, complex problems and their role in the development of sustainable solutions to global problems will become even more critical. Recent literature highlights the need for the development of a set of professional skills in order to address these challenges. These skills include technical, non-technical and attitudinal skills. This paper describes a case study of a whole-of-programme review of teaching and assessment of professional skills in a structural engineering programme. In a systematic process, lecturing staff mapped the modules they teach against a set of professional skills, which were distilled from literature …

Ground Movements And Vibrations Caused By Impact Pile Driving Of Prestressed Concrete Piles In Central Florida, Jorge Enrique Orozco Herrera

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The process of pile driving has been a commonly used method for the installation of deep foundations in Central Florida due to the soil conditions that consist mainly of medium-dense silty sands. Pile driving can generate large vibration levels that might potentially trigger ground deformations in the surrounding soils and cause damage on nearby structures. Currently, design and construction standards provide guidance in terms of ground vibration levels expected during pile driving and establish vibration thresholds to avoid damage on important infrastructure. However, little insight has been given into the amount of ground deformations that soils experience due to pile …

Mechanically Spliced Precast Bridge Columns, Ted Sjurseth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mechanical bar splices provide an alternative to the traditional method of lap splicing to achieve reinforcement bar continuity in reinforced concrete. Even though mechanical bar splices can be used as new precast column connections to accelerate the bridge construction (ABC), The use of bar couplers in the plastic hinge region of bridge columns is prohibited by the current US codes since the effects of bar couplers on the seismic behavior of columns is not fully investigated. A bridge column including precast columns with couplers located in a high seismic region must be designed to handle large inelastic lateral deformations. The …

Localization Of Stationary Source Of Floor Vibration Using The Steered Response Power Method, Mohammad Royvaran

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

If the generated vibration in a building exceeds the acceptable limit design for a floor system, it is necessary to identify the source of vibration, a process known as localization. The objective of this study is the localization of stationary vibration sources, and the approach used is the steered response power (SRP) method. This method has already been shown to work well for wireless and acoustical applications to locate transmitter and sound sources, respectively. To the writer’s knowledge, this study is the first application of the SRP method to locate vibration sources using floor vibration measurements. However, because waves behave …

Artificial Intelligence And Soft Computing In Smart Structural Systems, Sajad Javadinasab Hormozabad

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Next-generation smart cities are the key feature in the next chapter of human life. Cities that employ innovative and technology-driven solutions to improve the sustainability, resilience, prosperity, and amenity of the community are considered smart cities. Development of smart cities requires fundamental innovations in many technical and technological aspects including those contributing to smart structures. Smart technologies improve the structural performance against natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, and promote the sustainability of structural systems. Next-generation smart structures encompass a variety of technologies including Structural Control (SC) and Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). SC covers methodologies and technologies that modify the …

Nondestructive Condition Assessment Of Civil Infrastructure Using Ultrasonic Technique, Tyler Keith Ashbrook

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Civil Infrastructure controls the way people live by providing safe passage and shelter across the entire globe. Since safety leads the concern in infrastructure, it is essential to ensure that these structures have been adequately tested and analyzed periodically. Testing these structures can be extremely expensive when parts are required to be removed to capture the flaw, which is why nondestructive testing (NDT) continues to grow in demand since it can evaluate the structural component in-situ without causing any damage. Ultrasonic testing (UT) helps to adequately sustain and advance the safety in existing and future infrastructure across the globe. Continual …

Impacts Of Using Tubular Sections In Open Web Steel Joists, Hollis (Cas) L. Caswell V

Honors Theses

Open web steel joists are lightweight structural trusses used in place of I-beams to support long-span floors and roofs of open space buildings. Their slender geometry makes them highly efficient in resisting flexure, but susceptible to out-of-plane buckling in a failure mode known as lateral-torsional buckling. This failure can be avoided by running lateral bracing between joists called bridging or potentially by using tubular sections to build up the joists rather than angle sections.

It is possible that a joist design using tubular cross-sections could require less bridging and prevent the need to use erection bridging for initial joist construction. …

Estimation And Mitigation Of Stresses In Mass Concrete Structures Containing Ground Granulated Blast Furnaceslag And Fly Ash, Guadalupe Leon

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In large concrete structures, due to concrete’s low thermal conductivity, the interior temperature rise can approach the concrete’s adiabatic temperature rise. As the concrete’s surface losses heat to the environment and cools rapidly, the interior of the concrete attempts to expand while the exterior provides an internal restraint. The phenomenon causes thermal stresses at the concrete’s surface. If the thermal stresses exceed the concrete’s tensile strength, there is a high probability of cracking. The cracks usually appear during the first few days after construction while the concrete’s tensile strength is low. These early-age cracks can reduce the service life of …

Analysis Of Modern Barn Design, Gunther Soehnlen

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The agriculture industry is always changing. Barn structures are one of the most important aspects of the agriculture industry. As the agriculture industry changes, so does the design and construction of barns. There are many types of barns, but over the last 300 years four of the most prevalent types have been the Bank Barn, Open Span Truss Barn, Hoop Barn, and Transverse Frame Barn. The Bank Barn and Transverse Frame Barn have been popularly built for over 200 years. The Hoop Barn and the Open Span Truss Barn have been recently introduced to the industry, becoming popular within the …

Seismic Performance Of Mechanically Spliced Precast Bridge Columns With New Couplers, Evan Greeneway

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lap splicing is not always the most economical or practical approach to achieve reinforcement bar continuity. Mechanical bar splices, or bar couplers, are one alternative that may be far more practical. Currently, the US codes do not allow for the use of bar couplers in the plastic hinge region for RC members in areas of high seismic activity. There has not been enough research into the couplers behavior when subjected to significant inelastic lateral deformations. The Lohr Structures Laboratory was used to conduct an experimental study on campus of South Dakota State University to evaluate the seismic performance of mechanically …

A Parametric Study Of Lateral-Torsional Buckling In Pultruded Frp Beams Using Abaqus, Robert Nathaniel Baylor

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites continue to gain popularity in civil and mechanical infrastructure due to a high strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion-resistance, and low maintenance requirements. FRP can also fulfill niche roles requiring non-conductivity and magnetic transparency. The longitudinal forming of pultruded FRP makes it a natural choice for lightweight beams. Although FRP composites have a high strength for their weight, the elastic and shear moduli for glass FRP may only be 1/7 and 1/30 that of steel, respectively. These low stiffnesses make FRP composite beams particularly susceptible to lateral-torsional buckling (LTB). In addition, the low shear to elastic stiffness amplifies …

Timber Bridge Pile Splicing With Fiber Reinforced Polymer Wraps, Drew L. Damich

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Timber pile repair using splicing is widely used but little research has been done to determine their strength capacity after repair using this method. Current timber pile splicing mechanisms utilize various steel or wooden components. Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) wraps can be utilized as replacement to conventional materials in splicing of timber piles. This study evaluated the strength capacities of traditional splicing mechanisms in relation to FRP wrap splice mechanisms. Traditional splicing mechanisms consisted of flat steel plate, C-channel steel plate, and wooden plate splices. The FRP wrap splice consisted of unidirectional glass/epoxy composite with three layers of fabric as …

Workshop Outcomes Report: 1st International Workshop On Seismic Resilience Of Arctic Infrastructure And Social Systems, Majid Ghayoomi, Katharine Duderstadt, Alexander Kholodov, Alexander Shiklomanov, Matthew Turner, Elham Ajorlou

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Alternate Load Paths And Retrofits For Long-Span Truss Bridges Under Sudden Member Loss And Blast Loads, Huihui Li

Dissertations and Theses

In current bridge design practices, due to the existence of alternate load paths (ALPs), continued stability and progressive collapse-resistance of long-span bridges following the initialed loss of a critical member can be attributed to “redundancy”. However, “redundancy”, also indicated as the post member failure behavior of long-span bridges is not well understood and is not explicitly considered, especially for long-span truss bridges. As one of the most famous collapse events that took place recently, collapse of the I-35W truss bridge has demonstrated the vulnerabilities of long-span truss bridges, and their societal and economic consequences under the abnormal events, such as …

Structural Robustness Of Long-Span Cable-Supported Bridges, Qian Chen

Dissertations and Theses

As a critical part of the current infrastructure system, long-span bridges are directly exposed to adverse environments, such as floods, scours, hurricanes, etc., and dynamic loads such as earthquakes and vehicular impacts. Additionally, recent long-span cable-supported collapse examples show that many bridges suffered progressive collapse when local damage occurred, and they are highly vulnerable to severe damages in the event of a localized failure. However, the traditional design approaches are unable to provide explicit measures of residual safety of bridges, especially after an abnormal event. Currently available redundancy and robustness evaluation approaches, which were developed mainly for short-span bridges, are …

Optimisation Of Retrofit Wall Insulation: An Irish Case Study, Rakshit D. Muddu, D M. Gowda, Anthony James Robinson, Aimee Byrne

Articles

Ireland has one of the highest rates of emissions per capita in the world and its residential sector is responsible for approximately 10% of total national CO2 emissions. Therefore, reducing the CO2 emissions in this sector will play a decisive role in achieving EU targets of reducing emissions by 40% by 2030. To better inform decisions regarding retrofit of the existing building stock, this study proposes Optimum Insulation Thicknesses (OIT) for typical walls in 25 regions in Ireland. The calculation of OIT includes annual heat energy expenditure, CO2 emissions, and material payback period. The approach taken is based on Heating …

A Critical Analysis Of How Large Irish Architectural Practices Responded To Initial Covid-19 Restrictions And The Affect Implementing Remote Working Had On Bim Processes, Policies, And People, Bim Tudublin, John Mcenroy

Capstone Reports

The unprecedent events which transpired in the 88-day period from the 31st of December 2019 to the 27th of March 2020 have changed the world in which we live and work. The outbreak of Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) and the ensuing pandemic which has evolved are descripted as one in a hundred-year events. This paper researched and critically analyses the operations which large Irish Architecture firms initiated during this period in order to facilitate the ability of its employees working from a remote location, focusing on how the People, Processes and Policies of BIM (3 Ps of BIM); adapted to …

To What Extent Can Lean Construction Processes And Principles Be Utilised In The Design Stage Of A Bim Project In The Irish Design And Construction Industry, Bim Tudublin, Barry Sheramn

Capstone Reports

Although different in many ways, Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Lean Construction are two processes that are having a significant impact on the Design & Construction Industry. In recent years, the Irish AECO industry has seen a tenfold increase across numerous construction disciplines with the adoption of new workflows and processes centred around both BIM and Lean methodologies. Existing literature identifies a strong synergistic relationship between the two processes and highlights the opportunity for Lean processes and principles to be implemented into the design stage workflow. This paper investigated existing literature relating to several lean processes currently implemented in the …

An Examination Of The Use Of Geotechnical Bim To Provide Value Engineering Solutions For Coastal Infrastructure., Bim Tudublin, Eric Brennan

Capstone Reports

The digitisation of construction is taking root as Building Information Modelling is becoming more prevalent across the industry. From an Irish context, the adoption rate of BIM has been slow; nationally its advantages and merits have been welcomed and the appropriate government support is either available, soon to be implemented or in the early conceptual stage. Within the Irish governments Project Ireland 2040 framework there are significant infrastructure developments looming ahead, in particular regarding ports and harbours. The importance of this type of infrastructure is only further compounded due to the UK’s departure from the EU and the need for …

Potential Advantages Of Basalt Frp Bars Compared To Carbon Frp Bars & Conventional Steel, Yosra El Maghraby, Mohamed Nagib Abou-Zeid Prof., Ezzeldeen Yazeed El Sayed Ahmed Prof

Civil Engineering

No abstract provided.

Expanding The Concept Of Comprehensive Area Ratio Parameter To The South-Central States Towards Simplifying The Structural Evaluation Of Flexible Pavements At The Network Level, Nitish R. Bastola

Civil Engineering Theses

The surface deflection bowl data collected through Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) has been widely utilized by various Department of Transportation (DOTs) in the South-Central States and other places. The primary purpose of using deflection-based NDTs in network-level assessment is to identify a weak pavement section that requires further analysis at the project level. The falling weight deflectometer (FWD) test is one of the common NDT based tests utilized by highway agencies in assessing the performance of the flexible pavement. However, a robust method to evaluate pavement sections utilizing FWD data from all the sensors are seldom developed. There is always a …