Structural Engineering Commons^™

Performance Optimization Of Microbial Fuel Cell (Mfc) Using Lactobacillus Bulgaricus, Rita Arbianti, Tania Surya Utami, Heri Hermansyah, Deni Novitasari, Ester Kristin, Ira Trisnawati

Makara Journal of Technology

Electrical energy needs in Indonesia are expected to continue to rise. The use of petroleum as a source of energy still dominates, although oil reserves in Indonesia are increasingly being depleted. Therefore, there is a need to develop alternative sources of sustainable energy, such as microbial fuel cell (MFC). In this study, Lactobacillus bulgaricus was used as an electricity producer in a dual-chamber MFC reactor. We investigated the maximum electrical energy by varying the bacterial optical density (OD), the operational time of MFC, the reactor volume, the electrolyte solution, and the configuration of MFC reactor. In this study, the maximum …

Biological Pretreatment Of Oil Palm Frond Fiber Using White-Rot Fungi For Enzymatic Saccharification, Euis Hermiati, Sita Heris Anita, Lucky Risanto, Dyah Styarini, Yanni Sudiyani, Achmad Hanafi, Haznan Abimanyu

Makara Journal of Technology

Oil palm frond is one type of lignocellulosic biomass abundantly and daily available in Indonesia. It contains cellulose which can be converted to glucose, and further processed to produce different kinds of value –added products. The aim of this research is to study the effects of biological pretreatment of oil palm frond (OPF) fiber using Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Trametes versicolor on the enzymatic saccharification of the biomass. The OPF fiber (40-60 mesh sizes) was inoculated with cultures of the two fungi and incubated at 27 °C for 4 weeks. The samples were taken after 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks …

Agricultural Drought Pattern In West Java Using Thermal Vegetation Index From Modis-Terra Satellite, Dini Daruati, Rahmatulloh Rahmatulloh, Sri Hardiyanti Purwadhi

Makara Journal of Technology

This study examines agricultural drought paddy fields in West Java. The aims of this research are to know the pattern and distribution of paddy field drought in West Java and the correlation between drought and the physical characteristics. The agricultural drought is obtained from TVI (Thermal Vegetation Index) model. TVI is derived from MODIS Terra satellite image, which is the ratio between the LST (Land Surface Temperature) and EVI (Enhanced Vegetation Index). Physical factors studied are rainfall, l slope, geomorphology, soil drainage, and irrigation areas. The most severe drought occurred in September 2006 because of El Nino, covering 806,564 ha, …

Best Practices For Bridge Deck Overlays, Tommy E. Nantung, Robert J. Frosch

Purdue Road School

This presentation discusses recent research regarding alternative bridge deck overlay methods and best practices associated with their use.

Protecting Bridges From Earthquake Damage, Peter Dusicka

TREC Project Briefs

Earthquake damage to bridges can have serious effects on a transportation network. When a bridge is out, the damage can go well beyond what is immediately visible: in addition to the cost of repairing it, the state must deal with short-term and long-term interruptions to traffic. These interruptions can delay repair and construction, as well as impacting post earthquake emergency response and causing the loss of valuable time for commuters and freight. To prevent this situation, older bridges (ones that are past an average construction life of about 50 years) should be retrofitted with stronger materials, especially in earthquake- prone …

Characterization Of Impact Damage And Fiber Reinforced Polymer Repair Systems For Metallic Utility Poles, Cara Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous studies have demonstrated that the behavior of fiber reinforced polymers (FRPs) bonded to metallic utility poles are governed by the following failure modes; yielding of the metallic substrate, FRP tensile rupture, FRP compressive buckling, and debonding of FRP from the substrate. Therefore, an in situ method can be devised for the repair of utility poles, light poles, and mast arms that returns the poles to their original service strength. This thesis investigates the effect of damage due to vehicular impact on metallic poles, and the effectiveness of externally-bonded FRP repair systems in restoring their capacity. Damage is simulated experimentally …

Experimental And Numerical Investigations On Bond Durability Of Cfrp Strengthened Concrete Members Subjected To Environmental Exposure, Haider Al-Jelawy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have become an attractive alternative to conventional methods for external-strengthening of civil infrastructure, particularly as applied to flexural strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) members. However, durability of the bond between FRP composite and concrete has shown degradation under some aggressive environments. Although numerous studies have been conducted on concrete members strengthened with FRP composites, most of those studies have focused on the degradation of FRP material itself, relatively few on bond behavior under repeated mechanical and environmental loading. This thesis investigates bond durability under accelerated environmental conditioning of two FRP systems commonly employed in civil …

Monitoring For Underdetermined Underground Structures During Excavation Using Limited Sensor Data, Nader Mehdawi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A realistic field monitoring application to evaluate close proximity tunneling effects of a new tunnel on an existing tunnel is presented. A blind source separation (BSS)-based monitoring framework was developed using sensor data collected from the existing tunnel while the new tunnel was excavated. The developed monitoring framework is particularly useful to analyze underdetermined systems due to insufficient sensor data for explicit input force-output deformation relations. The analysis results show that the eigen-parameters obtained from the correlation matrix of raw sensor data can be used as excellent indicators to assess the tunnel structural behaviors during the excavation with powerful visualization …

Using Weigh-In-Motion Data To Determine Aggressiveness Of Traffic For Bridge Loading, Eugene J. Obrien, Bernard Enright

Articles

This paper presents results based on the analysis of an extensive database of weigh-in-motion (WIM) data collected at five European highway sites in recent years. The data are used as the basis for a Monte Carlo simulation of bridge loading by two lane traffic, both bidirectional and same-direction. Long runs of the simulation model are used to calculate characteristic bridge load effects (bending moments and shear forces), and these characteristic values are compared with design values for bridges of different length as specified by the Eurocode for bridge traffic loading. Various indicators are tested as possible bases for a “Bridge …

Reliability-Based Fatigue Assessment Of Mast-Arm Sign Support Structures, Joseph A. Diekfuss

Dissertations (1934 -)

Over the past few decades, there have been issues of poor fatigue performance (the main failure mechanism) of the welded, tube-to-transverse plate connections within sign support structures. Review of the literature has indicated that a considerable amount of research has been devoted to identifying the structural response characteristics of these signs. Others have tried to identify how these connections may be repaired, retrofitted or simply better designed to sustain longer fatigue lives. However, little attention has been given to using a systematic reliability-based approach to assess the risk of fatigue-induced fracture in these structures.

Using a reliability-based approach to solve …

Experimental Comparison Study Of The Response Of Polycarbonate And Laminated Glass Blast Resistant Glazing Systems To Blast Loading, Joshua Calnan

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

This thesis recounts the experimental study of the dynamic response of polycarbonate blast resistant glazing systems to explosive loading through the use of triaxial load cells, pressure sensors, and a laser displacement gauge. This instrumentation captured the response of the glazing systems to blast loading over three phases of testing. The first phase of testing characterizes the load distribution around the perimeter and the second phase examines the repeatability of the results. The final phase of testing pushes the samples to failure. The results are then compared to HazL, a commonly used blast resistant glazing system analysis software tool. The …

Development Of The Strategy To Select Optimum Reflective Cracking Mitigation Methods For The Hot-Mix Asphalt Overlays In Florida, Hamid Maherinia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) overlay is a major rehabilitation treatment for the existing deteriorated pavements (both flexible and rigid pavements). Reflective cracking (RC) is the most common distress type appearing in the HMA overlays which structurally and functionally degrades the whole pavement structure, especially under high traffic volume. Although many studies have been conducted to identify the best performing RC mitigation technique, the level of success varies from premature failure to good performance in the field. In Florida, Asphalt Rubber Membrane Interlayers (ARMIs) have been used as a RC mitigation technique but its field performance has not been successful. In …

Analytical And Experimental Study Of Monitoring For Chain-Like Nonlinear Dynamic Systems, Bryan Paul

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Inverse analysis of nonlinear dynamic systems is an important area of research in the eld of structural health monitoring for civil engineering structures. Structural damage usually involves localized nonlinear behaviors of dynamic systems that evolve into different classes of nonlinearity as well as change system parameter values. Numerous parametric modal analysis techniques (e.g., eigensystem realization algorithm and subspace identification method) have been developed for system identification of multi-degree-of-freedom dynamic systems. However, those methods are usually limited to linear systems and known for poor sensitivity to localized damage. On the other hand, non-parametric identification methods (e.g., artificial neural networks) are advantageous …

The Effects Of Assumption On Subspace Identification Using Simulation And Experiment Data, Yoonhwak Kim

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the modern dynamic engineering field, experimental dynamics is an important area of study. This area includes structural dynamics, structural control, and structural health monitoring. In experimental dynamics, methods to obtain measured data have seen a great influx of research efforts to develop an accurate and reliable experimental analysis result. A technical challenge is the procurement of informative data that exhibits the desired system information. In many cases, the number of sensors is limited by cost and difficulty of data archive. Furthermore, some informative data has technical difficulty when measuring input force and, even if obtaining the desired data were …

Multi-Physics Modeling Of Geomechanical Systems With Coupled Hydromechanical Behaviors, Ahmad Mohamed

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Geotechnical structures under realistic field conditions are usually influenced with complex interactions of coupled hydromechanical behavior of porous materials. In many geotechnical applications, however, these important coupled interactions are ignored in their constitutive models. Under coupled hydromechanical behavior, stress in porous materials causes volumetric change in strain, which causes fluid diffusion; consequently, pore pressure dissipates through the pores that results in the consolidation of porous material. The objective of this research wasto demonstrate the advantages of using hydromechanical models to estimate deformation and pore water pressure of porous materials by comparing with mechanical-only models. Firstly, extensive literature survey was conducted …

Evaluating The Use Of Recycled Concrete Aggregate In French Drain Applications, Zachary Behring

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) is often used as a replacement of virgin aggregate in road foundations (base course), embankments, hot-mix asphalt, and Portland cement concrete. However, the use of RCA in exfiltration drainage systems, such as French drains, is currently prohibited in many states of the U.S. The French drain system collects water runoff from the road pavement and transfers to slotted pipes underground and then filters through coarse aggregate and geotextile. The primary concerns with using RCA as a drainage media are the fines content and the precipitation of calcium carbonate to cause a reducing in filter fabric permittivity. …

Non-Destructive Evaluation Of Concrete Structures Using High Resolution Digital Image And Infrared Thermography Technology, Azusa Watase

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As existing bridge structures age, they are susceptible to the effects of deterioration, damage and other deleterious processes. These effects hamper the capacity and efficiency of transportation networks and adversely impact local, regional and national economic growth. As a result, bridge authorities and other professionals have become more sensitive to maintenance issues related to this aging infrastructure. While highway bridge condition have been monitored by visual inspection, non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technologies have also been developing and they are expected to be utilized for effective management of highway bridges or other civil infrastructure systems. Efficient use of these technologies saves time …

Wind Loading On Trees Integrated With A Building Envelope, Aly Mousaad Aly, Alberto Zasso, Girma Bitsuamlak, Alberto Nicola Longarini, Arindam Gam Chowdhury

Faculty Publications

With the sustainability movement, vegetated building envelopes are gaining more popularity. This requires special wind effect investigations, both from sustainability and resiliency perspectives. The current paper focuses on wind load estimation on small- and full-scale trees used as part of green roofs and balconies. Small-scale wind load assessment was carried out using wind tunnel testing in a global-effect study to understand the interference effects from surrounding structures. Full-scale trees were investigated at a large open-jet facility in a local-effect study to investigate the wind-tree interaction. The effect of Reynolds number combined with shape change on the overall loads measured at …

Effects Of Openings On The Analysis And Design Of Precast Prestressed Hollow Core Slabs, Eoghan Lodge

Theses

Precast prestressed hollow core floors are a widely used structural element which offers increased speed of construction, reduced self-weight and many other advantages. Due to the relatively low span-to-depth ratio and the speed of construction hollow core slabs are utilised in a large number of commercial buildings. In order to carry the services to the upper floors an opening must be made within the prestressed slab. Cutting an opening in a prestressed slab has significant effects on the structural behaviour of the slab and can considerably reduce the ultimate capacity of the slab.

This paper outlines the limited available guidance …

Effect Of Support Compliance On The Resonant Behavior Of Microcantilever-Based Sensors In Viscous Fluids, Rabin Maharjan

Dissertations (1934 -)

Resonant microcantilevers are often considered for use in chemical sensing and biosensing applications. However, when excited in the conventional transverse flexural mode, their performance in liquids is severely compromised. Theoretical and experimental studies have shown that the detrimental effects of the liquid may be mitigated by operating the microcantilever in lateral flexure, especially for microbeams having smaller length-to-width (L/b) ratios. However, for these most promising geometries the predictions of existing models tend to diverge from experimental data for resonant frequency (f_res) and quality factor (Q). A likely reason for these discrepancies is support compliance, which has been neglected …

Application Of Multi-Hazard Seismic-Blast Detailing For Highway Bridges, Dominique Morton Torres

Dissertations and Theses

The increase of worldwide terrorist attacks on public transportation has heightened our concerns of protecting the nation’s transportation infrastructure. Highway bridges are an attractive target for terrorist attacks due to ease of accessibility and their overall importance to society. The primary objective of this research is to investigate multi-hazard seismic-blast correlations of blast-induced bridge components through numerical simulations of a high-precision finite element model of a typical highway bridge in New York. Seismic-detailing for blast loading on bridges has been investigated to study the correlations between seismic design for blast load effects. High-precision 3D Finite Element models of bridges detailed …

Reinforced Concrete Deterioration Of A 100 Year Old Structure In A Marine Environment, Ross O'Donovan

Theses

The current study investigates the deterioration of a 100 year old bridge located in a harsh marine environment. Constructed in 1908 - 1909 the Mizen Head Footbridge was one of the oldest reinforced concrete bridges in Ireland. The demolition of the bridge in 2009 provided a unique opportunity to examine its service life and to extract samples for analysis and investigation. A review of the construction of the bridge, and its maintenance history are presented, with a view to analysing their influence on the behaviour of the concrete.

Reinforcement corrosion due to chloride attack was identified. A focused study indicates …

Microsimulation Evaluation Of Eurocode Load Model For American Long-Span Bridges, Bernard Enright, Colm Carey, Colin Caprani

Articles

The ability to accurately predict traffic loading is essential for cost-effective bridge maintenance and repair programs. The traffic load model currently used in the United States for the design of long-span bridges was developed over three decades ago. In the meantime vehicle characteristics and traffic patterns have changed. The Eurocode for traffic loading is more recent, but was calibrated only for bridges up to 200 m long. In this work, Weigh-In-Motion traffic records from 11 different sites across Alabama are used to establish congested traffic loading. Traffic microsimulation is used to generate the congestion, based on the real traffic data. …

The Effect Of Mortar Strength On The Standard Test For Strand Bond, Cameron Murray

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The prestressed industry is moving towards adopting the Standard Test for Strand Bond (STSB) to quantify the bond capacity of prestressing strand. In the test, strand is pulled through an 18 in. cylindrical casing filled with mortar. The force corresponding to the dead end displacement of 0.1 in. is recorded and this value is used to quantify strand bond. One of the concerns of the test is the requirement of a mean mortar strength of 4,500 to 5,000 psi during testing. There is concern that this 500 psi range may be too difficult to achieve. A study was conducted to …

Implementation And Validation Of Fault-Rupture Response Spectrum Analysis Procedure In Csibridge For Bridges Crossing Earthquake Fault Ruptures, Jennifer Evelyn Tures

Master's Theses

This thesis evaluates the application of a simplified analysis procedure as implemented in version 16 of CSiBridge^TM for design of bridges crossing earthquake fault ruptures. The fault-rupture response spectrum analysis (FR-RSA) approximation method has been proved adequate for both straight and curved ordinary bridges, but lacked a comfortable interface to accommodate the method users. Computers and Structure, Inc. has implemented the FR-RSA procedure into CSiBridge^TM, a user-friendly integrated 3-D bridge design software, as an added seismic design feature. By combining the response of the bridge due to the quasi-static displacement from the fault strike-slip rupture and the …

Seismic Performance Of Symmetric Steel Moment Frames With Random Reactive Weight Distributions, Conner F.F. Williamson

Master's Theses

When a structure undergoes seismic excitation, the intensities and spatial distributions of the reactive weights on the structure may not be the same as those assumed in original design. Such a difference is inevitable due to many facts with the random nature (e.g., redistribution of live load), resulting in accidental eccentricity and consequently torsional response in the system. The added torsion can cause excessive deformation and premature failure of the lateral force resisting system and its detrimental effect is typically accounted for in most building design codes with an arbitrarily specified accidental eccentricity value. While it tends to amplify drift …

Coastal Physical Vulnerability Of Surabaya And Its Surrounding Area To Sea Level Rise, Sayidah Sulma, Eko Kusratmoko, Ratna Saraswati

Makara Journal of Technology

The study for coastal vulnerability to sea level rise was carried out in Surabaya and its surrounding area, it has focused on calculations of the physical vulnerability index were used coastal vulnerability index (CVI) methods. It was standardized by the multi criteria analysis (MCA) approach according to the study area. The score of each physical variable derived from remote sensing satellite data and the results of studies that have been done, such as modeling results and thematic maps, and then integrated into geographic information systems (GIS). Result of this study shows that the coastal areas of Gresik, Surabaya, and Sidoarjo …

The Effect Of Size And Crumb Rubber Composition As A Filler With Compatibilizer Pp-G-Ma In Polypropylene Blends And Sir-20 Compound On Mechanical And Thermal Properties, Erna Frida

Makara Journal of Technology

Having been researched the development of thermoplastic elastomer material of polypropylene and natural rubber SIR- 20 compound with Crumb Rubber as the filler. Reinforced polypropylene with size 60 mesh with 1 mm, and the composition of the Crumb rubber (30, 40, and 50) wt%. Observed mechanical properties are tensile strength, fracture elongation, Young's modulus, tear strength and impact strength. Thermal properties are analyzed by DSC and DTA/TGA. It is acquired that for the size of 60 mesh crumb rubber tensile strength, fracture elongation, Young’s modulus, tear strength and impact strength are bigger than 1mm size. The addition of 60 mesh …

Cdm Potential In Palm Solid Waste Cogeneration As An Alternative Energy In Aceh Province, Mahidin Mahidin, Izarul Machdar, Muhammad Faisal, Muhammad Nizar

Makara Journal of Technology

Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) as a solid waste in Crude Palm Oil (CPO) industry does not utilized yet as an alternative energy source to generate electricity. It is well known that use of solid wate (biomass) as an energy source is part of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) scheme due to direct reduction of Green House Gases (GHGs) emission and provide a direct contribution to sustainable development. Utilization of EFB as a source of energy is very potential to be implemented in Aceh since this province has 25 CPO Mills at the moment which actively produce about 870,000 ton EFB …

Small Scale Experiment: Thermal Performance Comparison Between Fiber-Cement Roof And Photovoltaic Roof In Malang, Indonesia, Nurhamdoko Bonifacius, Sri Nastiti Nugrahani Ekasiwi

Makara Journal of Technology

Irradiation on the surface of photovoltaic module heats up the photovoltaic module itself and the room underneath the roof of integrated photovoltaic building in the tropics area. Room heating reduces thermal condition and photovoltaic module surface heating reduces its performance in generating electricity. This paper discusses an experiment of measuring the surface temperature of photovoltaic modules and fiber-cement roof surface as a comparison. This experiment also measures the impact of rising temperatures in each space underneath. It used small-scale mock-ups exposed to direct sunlight. The result of the experiment shows that photovoltaic roof surface temperature is lower than fiber-cement roof …