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Full-Text Articles in Structural Engineering

Ensemble-Learning Model Based Ultimate Moment Prediction Of Reinforced Concrete Members Strengthened By Uhpc, Woubishet Zewdu Taffese, Yanping Zhu, Genda Chen Apr 2024

Ensemble-Learning Model Based Ultimate Moment Prediction Of Reinforced Concrete Members Strengthened By Uhpc, Woubishet Zewdu Taffese, Yanping Zhu, Genda Chen

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Data-driven model development brings new approaches to solve conventional civil engineering problems, which are usually considered and answered by experimental, analytical, and numerical methods. This study aims to develop an ensemble learning model (i.e., XGBoost: eXtreme Gradient Boosting) to predict ultimate moment of reinforced concrete (RC) members strengthened by a newly developed concrete technology – ultrahigh performance concrete (UHPC). The study considered two scenarios, incorporating eighteen and seventeen features, with one feature modification involving the transformation of width and height to the cross-sectional area of RC members. Incorporating three substrate damage levels, two substrate surface treatments preceding UHPC strengthening, and …


Natural Gas Induced Vegetation Stress Identification And Discrimination From Hyperspectral Imaging For Pipeline Leakage Detection, Pengfei Ma, Ying Zhuo, Genda Chen, Joel G. Burken Mar 2024

Natural Gas Induced Vegetation Stress Identification And Discrimination From Hyperspectral Imaging For Pipeline Leakage Detection, Pengfei Ma, Ying Zhuo, Genda Chen, Joel G. Burken

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Remote Sensing Detection of Natural Gas Leaks Remains Challenging When using Ground Vegetation Stress to Detect Underground Pipeline Leaks. Other Natural Stressors May Co-Present and Complicate Gas Leak Detection. This Study Explores the Feasibility of Identifying and Distinguishing Gas-Induced Stress from Other Natural Stresses by Analyzing the Hyperspectral Reflectance of Vegetation. the Effectiveness of This Discrimination is Assessed Across Three Distinct Spectral Ranges (VNIR, SWIR, and Full Spectra). Greenhouse Experiments Subjected Three Plant Species to Controlled Environmental Stressors, Including Gas Leakage, Salinity Impact, Heavy-Metal Contamination, and Drought Exposure. Spectral Curves Obtained from the Experiments Underwent Preprocessing Techniques Such as Standard …


Characterization Of Alkali-Silica Reaction (Asr) Products And C-S-H Using Swir Spectroscopy For Nondestructive Detection Of Asr, Pengfei Ma, Wenyu Liao, Ying Zhuo, Hongyan Ma, Yanping Zhu, Genda Chen Feb 2024

Characterization Of Alkali-Silica Reaction (Asr) Products And C-S-H Using Swir Spectroscopy For Nondestructive Detection Of Asr, Pengfei Ma, Wenyu Liao, Ying Zhuo, Hongyan Ma, Yanping Zhu, Genda Chen

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study explores the feasibility of characterizing alkali-silica reaction (ASR) products and calcium silicate hydrates (C-S-H) from short-wave infrared (SWIR) spectroscopy. ASR products and C-S-H samples with different Ca/Si ratios were synthesized and analyzed through XRD, 29Si nuclei magnetic resonance (NMR) and SWIR spectroscopy. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was collected to help interpret the results from the SWIR spectroscopy. The obtained spectroscopic features were applied to quantify the ASR product abundance denoted by the length expansion of mortar bars after an accelerated ASR test. The results show that the SWIR spectra of the synthetic ASR gels are similar regardless of …


Performance Of Smart Shear Keys In Concrete Bridges Under Tsunami Loading: An Experimental Study, Haibin Zhang, Xinzhe Yuan, Genda Chen, Pedro Lomonaco Jan 2024

Performance Of Smart Shear Keys In Concrete Bridges Under Tsunami Loading: An Experimental Study, Haibin Zhang, Xinzhe Yuan, Genda Chen, Pedro Lomonaco

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Bridges have recently been exposed to an increasing number of natural hazards such as earthquakes and tsunamis. These extreme events have resulted in transverse offsets, overturning moments, and even dropping-off of superstructures due to their weak connection to substructures. These outcomes are potentially prevented or mitigated by developing and deploying sliding, modular, adaptive, replaceable, and two-dimensional (SMART) shear keys as fuse elements between superstructures and substructures. The novelty of SMART shear keys is to enable an adaptive control of both the force and displacement of bridges under different types of loads. In this study, the performance of SMART shear keys …


A Vehicle-Bridge Interaction Model Considering Contact Patch Size And Vehicle Self-Generated Excitation – A Theoretical Study, Zhenhua Shi, Yahya M. Mohammed, Nasim Uddin, Genda Chen Jan 2024

A Vehicle-Bridge Interaction Model Considering Contact Patch Size And Vehicle Self-Generated Excitation – A Theoretical Study, Zhenhua Shi, Yahya M. Mohammed, Nasim Uddin, Genda Chen

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents an improved theoretical damped single-axle vehicle-bridge dynamic interaction model to consider the effect of the contact patch size and motor-induced vehicle excitation. The contact patch issue is critical as it determines the minimum time step for simulation and maximum identifiable frequency, while the inclusion of the motor-induced vehicle excitation benefits the design of autonomous self-driven rather than towed vehicles. Estimations of the contact patch size for both the pneumatic tire and solid wheel scenarios are discussed. The contact patch responses, which degenerate into contact point responses when the contact patch size is assumed to be infinitely small, …


Effect Of Type And Quantity Of Inherent Alkali Cations On Alkali-Silica Reaction, Pengfei Ma, Jiaoli Li, Jincheng Bai, Ying Zhuo, Lingyu Chi, Yanping Zhu, Zhenhua Shi, Hongyan Ma, Genda Chen Nov 2023

Effect Of Type And Quantity Of Inherent Alkali Cations On Alkali-Silica Reaction, Pengfei Ma, Jiaoli Li, Jincheng Bai, Ying Zhuo, Lingyu Chi, Yanping Zhu, Zhenhua Shi, Hongyan Ma, Genda Chen

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this study, the macroscopical expansion induced by alkali-silica reaction (ASR) and its corresponding ASR products are investigated using ordinary Portland cement (OPC) mortar specimens with a gradient of boosted alkalis. Experimental results show that the expansion increases with the concentration of inherent alkalis. Sodium-boosted samples expand approximately three times as much as potassium-boosted samples. ASR gels that are present in aggregate veins are calcium-free and amorphous; the atomic ratios of ASR gels are nearly independent of the type and quantity of alkali cations. Aggregate ASR gel exudation occurs in high (≥2.5 %) sodium cases and produces potential Na-shlykovite. Crystalline …


Machine Learning-Based Seismic Damage Assessment Of Residential Buildings Considering Multiple Earthquake And Structure Uncertainties, Xinzhe Yuan, Liujun Li, Haibin Zhang, Yanping Zhu, Genda Chen, Cihan H. Dagli Aug 2023

Machine Learning-Based Seismic Damage Assessment Of Residential Buildings Considering Multiple Earthquake And Structure Uncertainties, Xinzhe Yuan, Liujun Li, Haibin Zhang, Yanping Zhu, Genda Chen, Cihan H. Dagli

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Wood-frame structures are used in almost 90% of residential buildings in the United States. It is thus imperative to rapidly and accurately assess the damage of wood-frame structures in the wake of an earthquake event. This study aims to develop a machine-learning-based seismic classifier for a portfolio of 6,113 wood-frame structures near the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) in which synthesized ground motions are adopted to characterize potential earthquakes. This seismic classifier, based on a multilayer perceptron (MLP), is compared with existing fragility curves developed for the same wood-frame buildings near the NMSZ. This comparative study indicates that the MLP …


Development And Characterization Of Coal-Based Thermoplastic Composite Material For Sustainable Construction, Haibin Zhang, Wenyu Liao, Genda Chen, Hongyan Ma Aug 2023

Development And Characterization Of Coal-Based Thermoplastic Composite Material For Sustainable Construction, Haibin Zhang, Wenyu Liao, Genda Chen, Hongyan Ma

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The exploitation of coal and the disposal of waste plastic present significant environmental and economic challenges that require sustainable and profitable solutions. In response, we propose a renewable construction composite material of coal-based thermoplastic composite (CTC) that can be made from low-grade coal and plastic waste. We developed and tested the hot-press fabrication method for this CTC, using coal with a maximum particle size of 4.75 mm and recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE). The effects of the coal fraction (50–80 wt.%) on compressive properties, thermal properties, microstructure, and ecological and economic efficiencies of the CTC were investigated. Test results revealed that …


A Spike-Shaped Anchorage For Steel Reinforced Polymer (Srp)-Strengthened Concrete Structures, Xingxing Zou, Keenan L. Mcburney, Lesley H. Sneed Jul 2023

A Spike-Shaped Anchorage For Steel Reinforced Polymer (Srp)-Strengthened Concrete Structures, Xingxing Zou, Keenan L. Mcburney, Lesley H. Sneed

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Steel reinforced polymer (SRP) composite has recently emerged as an effective and economical solution for strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Premature debonding failure of unanchored SRP at low load levels generally governs the performance of RC structures strengthened with externally bonded SRP. Therefore, a novel yet simple spike-shaped anchorage system was proposed in this study to prevent the debonding failure of SRP and to improve the interfacial shear capacity. Experimental investigation through single-lap shear tests of SRP-concrete joints showed that the anchorage system changed the failure mode from composite debonding to fiber rupture. In addition, the anchorage system substantially …


Preliminary Bond Capacity Exploration Between Monolayer Graphene And Cementitious Composites, Yanping Zhu, Chuanrui Guo, Genda Chen Jun 2023

Preliminary Bond Capacity Exploration Between Monolayer Graphene And Cementitious Composites, Yanping Zhu, Chuanrui Guo, Genda Chen

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This Study Aims to Explore Bond Capacity between Monolayer Graphene and Cementitious Composites for the First Time through a Pullout Test. the Low-Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition Method Was Used to Synthesize Monolayer Graphene on the Copper Substrate to Be Embedded in the Mortar Made by the Briquette Mold. the Bond Capacity between Them Was Higher Than the Tensile Strength of the Copper Sheet with As-Grown Monolayer Graphene on the Surface Since All Specimens Failed in Fracture with Embedment Length of More Than 30 Mm. the Monolayer Graphene Enhanced the Copper Tensile Fracture Stress and Normalized Energy during the Test as …


Coating Condition Detection And Assessment On The Steel Girder Of A Bridge Through Hyperspectral Imaging, Pengfei Ma, Jiaoli Li, Ying Zhuo, Pu Jiao, Genda Chen Jun 2023

Coating Condition Detection And Assessment On The Steel Girder Of A Bridge Through Hyperspectral Imaging, Pengfei Ma, Jiaoli Li, Ying Zhuo, Pu Jiao, Genda Chen

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The organic coating of bridge steel girders is subjected to physical scratches, corrosion, and aging in natural weathering. The breakdown of the coating may cause serviceability and safety problems if left unnoticed. Conventional coating inspection is time-consuming and lacks information about the coating's chemical integrity. A hyperspectral imaging method is proposed to detect the condition of steel coatings based on coating-responsive features in reflectance spectra. A field test was conducted on the real-world bridge, which shows obvious signs of degradation. The hyperspectral signature enables an assessment of the coating's health and defect severity. The results indicated that the coating scratch …


A Deep Learning-Informed Design Scheme For Shear Friction At Concrete-To-Concrete Interface: Recommendations For Inclusion In Aashto Lrfd Guidelines, Tarutal Ghosh Mondal, Nikkolas Edgmond, Lesley Sneed, Genda Chen Jan 2023

A Deep Learning-Informed Design Scheme For Shear Friction At Concrete-To-Concrete Interface: Recommendations For Inclusion In Aashto Lrfd Guidelines, Tarutal Ghosh Mondal, Nikkolas Edgmond, Lesley Sneed, Genda Chen

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Recent advancements in construction technology have led to high-strength concrete and steel. However, these developments have depreciated the accuracy of the design equations in current provisions, which were based on normal-grade materials. To fill such a research gap, this study presents a novel deep learning-based computation scheme that can replace the current design provisions by virtue of its superior accuracy and reliability. The proposed approach exploits Neural Additive Models (NAMs) in which geometric and material properties associated with a normal weight concrete-to-concrete shear interface are inputted to individual neural network blocks. The outputs of the individual blocks are linearly combined …


Hardware-In-The-Loop And Digital Twin Enabled Autonomous Robotics-Assisted Environment Inspection, Johnny Li, Bo Shang, Iresh Jayawardana, Genda Chen Jan 2023

Hardware-In-The-Loop And Digital Twin Enabled Autonomous Robotics-Assisted Environment Inspection, Johnny Li, Bo Shang, Iresh Jayawardana, Genda Chen

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Empowered by the advanced 3D sensing, computer vision and AI algorithm, autonomous robotics provide an unprecedented possibility for close-up infrastructure environment inspection in an efficient and reliable fashion. Deep neural network (DNN) learning algorithms, pretrained on the large database can empower real-time object detection as well as fully autonomous, safe robotic navigation in unstructured environments while avoiding the potential obstacle. However, the development and deployment of the robots, inspection planning and operation procedures are still tedious and segmented with tremendous manual intervention during environmental inspection and anomaly monitoring. The proposed digital twin approach is able to provide a virtual representation …


Analyzing Ground Motion Records With Cvi Fuzzy Art, Dustin Tanksley, Xinzhe Yuan, Genda Chen, Donald C. Wunsch Jan 2023

Analyzing Ground Motion Records With Cvi Fuzzy Art, Dustin Tanksley, Xinzhe Yuan, Genda Chen, Donald C. Wunsch

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper explores using Cluster Validity Indices Fuzzy Adaptative Resonance Theory (CVI Fuzzy ART) to cluster ground motion records (GMRs). Clustering the features extracted from a supervised network trained for predicting the structure damage results in less overfitting from the trained network. Using Cluster Validity Indices (CVIs) to evaluate the clustering gives feedback to how well the data is being classified, allowing further separation of the data. By using CVI Fuzzy ART in combination with features extracted from a trained Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), we were able to form additional clusters in the data. Within the primary clusters, accuracy was …


Fast Forest Fire Smoke Detection Using Mvmnet, Yaowen Hu, Jialei Zhan, Guoxiong Zhou, Aibin Chen, Weiwei Cai, Kun Guo, Yahui Hu, Liujun Li Apr 2022

Fast Forest Fire Smoke Detection Using Mvmnet, Yaowen Hu, Jialei Zhan, Guoxiong Zhou, Aibin Chen, Weiwei Cai, Kun Guo, Yahui Hu, Liujun Li

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Forest fires are a huge ecological hazard, and smoke is an early characteristic of forest fires. Smoke is present only in a tiny region in images that are captured in the early stages of smoke occurrence or when the smoke is far from the camera. Furthermore, smoke dispersal is uneven, and the background environment is complicated and changing, thereby leading to inconspicuous pixel-based features that complicate smoke detection. In this paper, we propose a detection method called multioriented detection based on a value conversion-attention mechanism module and Mixed-NMS (MVMNet). First, a multioriented detection method is proposed. In contrast to traditional …


Bc-Dunet-Based Segmentation Of Fine Cracks In Bridges Under A Complex Background, Tao Liu, Liangji Zhang, Guoxiong Zhou, Weiwei Cai, Chuang Cai, Liujun Li Mar 2022

Bc-Dunet-Based Segmentation Of Fine Cracks In Bridges Under A Complex Background, Tao Liu, Liangji Zhang, Guoxiong Zhou, Weiwei Cai, Chuang Cai, Liujun Li

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Crack is the external expression form of potential safety risks in bridge construction. Currently, automatic detection and segmentation of bridge cracks remains the top priority of civil engineers. With the development of image segmentation techniques based on convolutional neural networks, new opportunities emerge in bridge crack detection. Traditional bridge crack detection methods are vulnerable to complex background and small cracks, which is difficult to achieve effective segmentation. This study presents a bridge crack segmentation method based on a densely connected U-Net network (BC-DUnet) with a background elimination module and cross-attention mechanism. First, a dense connected feature extraction model (DCFEM) integrating …


Influence Of Phosphorus Sources On The Compressive Strength And Microstructure Of Ferronickel Slag-Based Magnesium Phosphate Cement, Cuirong Yan, Hongyan Ma, Zhongqiu Luo, Xintao Zhou, Luxing Wang Mar 2022

Influence Of Phosphorus Sources On The Compressive Strength And Microstructure Of Ferronickel Slag-Based Magnesium Phosphate Cement, Cuirong Yan, Hongyan Ma, Zhongqiu Luo, Xintao Zhou, Luxing Wang

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Electric furnace ferronickel slag (EFS) is a typical magnesium-rich industrial by-product discharged from the manufacture of nickel and iron-nickel alloys. The approach to use it as the raw material for the preparation of magnesium phosphate cement (MPC) has potential and proves effec-tive. In this study, three different phosphorus sources (PS) including phosphoric acid (H3PO4, PA), sodium dihydrogen phosphate (NaH2 PO4, SDP) and potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KH2 PO4, PDP) were used to react with EFS to prepare the EFS-based MPC (EMPC), and the effects of raw material mass ratio (EFS/PA, EFS/SDP, …


Setting Times Of Early-Age Mortars Determined From Evolution Curves Of Poisson’S Ratio, Bate Bate, Xiao Chen, Chao Chen, Hongyan Ma, Jianfeng Zhu, Junnan Cao, Jiakai Chen, Kamal Khayat, Shuai Zhang Feb 2022

Setting Times Of Early-Age Mortars Determined From Evolution Curves Of Poisson’S Ratio, Bate Bate, Xiao Chen, Chao Chen, Hongyan Ma, Jianfeng Zhu, Junnan Cao, Jiakai Chen, Kamal Khayat, Shuai Zhang

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Setting times, as the early-age properties of cement-based materials, are important properties to ensure the quality and long-term performance of engineering structures. To determine the initial and final setting times of cementitious materials, the compressive wave velocity and shear wave velocity of six early-age mortar samples were monitored. Their time evolution curves of Young's modulus, shear modulus, bulk modulus, and Poisson's ratio were then calculated and analyzed. The signature times of the derivatives of the Poisson's ratio evolution curves correlate well with the initial and final setting times, and the remarkably high coefficient of determination values relative to the data …


Tension-Stiffening Effect Consideration For Modeling Deflection Of Cracked Reinforced Uhpc Beams, Le Teng, Rongling Zhang, Kamal Khayat Jan 2022

Tension-Stiffening Effect Consideration For Modeling Deflection Of Cracked Reinforced Uhpc Beams, Le Teng, Rongling Zhang, Kamal Khayat

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Tension-stiffening effects can significantly influence the flexural performance of cracked reinforced concrete specimens. Such effect is amplified for fiber-reinforced concrete, given the fact that fibers can bridge the cracks. The objective of this study was to develop a model to predict the deflection of cracked reinforced ultra-high performance concrete (R-UHPC) beam elements. The modeling approach characterized the average bending moment of inertia by combining the existing model used for conventional reinforced concrete and the analytical model of stress distribution of UHPC along the cross-section. The finite element analysis (FEA) was employed to evaluate the flexural deflection based on the average …


Faster Post-Earthquake Damage Assessment Based On 1d Convolutional Neural Networks, Xinzhe Yuan, Dustin Tanksley, Liujun Li, Haibin Zhang, Genda Chen, Donald C. Wunsch Oct 2021

Faster Post-Earthquake Damage Assessment Based On 1d Convolutional Neural Networks, Xinzhe Yuan, Dustin Tanksley, Liujun Li, Haibin Zhang, Genda Chen, Donald C. Wunsch

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Contemporary deep learning approaches for post-earthquake damage assessments based on 2D convolutional neural networks (CNNs) require encoding of ground motion records to transform their inherent 1D time series to 2D images, thus requiring high computing time and resources. This study develops a 1D CNN model to avoid the costly 2D image encoding. The 1D CNN model is compared with a 2D CNN model with wavelet transform encoding and a feedforward neural network (FNN) model to evaluate prediction performance and computational efficiency. A case study of a benchmark reinforced concrete (r/c) building indicated that the 1D CNN model achieved a prediction …


Machine Learning For High-Fidelity Prediction Of Cement Hydration Kinetics In Blended Systems, Rachel Cook, Taihao Han, Alaina Childers, Cambria Ryckman, Kamal Khayat, Hongyan Ma, Jie Huang, Aditya Kumar Oct 2021

Machine Learning For High-Fidelity Prediction Of Cement Hydration Kinetics In Blended Systems, Rachel Cook, Taihao Han, Alaina Childers, Cambria Ryckman, Kamal Khayat, Hongyan Ma, Jie Huang, Aditya Kumar

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The production of ordinary Portland cement (OPC), the most broadly utilized man-made material, has been scrutinized due to its contributions to global anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Thus -- to mitigate CO2 emissions -- mineral additives have been promulgated as partial replacements for OPC. However, additives -- depending on their physiochemical characteristics -- can exert varying effects on OPC's hydration kinetics. Therefore -- in regards to more complex systems -- it is infeasible for semi-empirical kinetic models to reveal the underlying nonlinear composition-property (i.e., reactivity) relationships. In the past decade or so, machine learning (ML) has arisen as a promising, …


Three-Dimensional Printing Of Reinforced Concrete And Nozzle Therefor, Chenglin Wu, Genda Chen, Dimitri Feys, Guirong Grace Yan, Bryce Tyler Tafolla Sep 2021

Three-Dimensional Printing Of Reinforced Concrete And Nozzle Therefor, Chenglin Wu, Genda Chen, Dimitri Feys, Guirong Grace Yan, Bryce Tyler Tafolla

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A three-dimensional printing system for reinforced concrete and a nozzle therefor. The system employs an extruder for extruding unreinforced concrete and a concrete reinforcement feeder is for feeding one or more elongate reinforcement members. The nozzle has an outlet and is operatively connected to the extruder and the concrete reinforcement feeder to receive the unreinforced concrete from the extruder and to receive the one or more elongate reinforcement members from the concrete reinforcement feeder. The nozzle combines the unreinforced concrete from the extruder and the one or more elongate reinforcement members from the concrete reinforcement feeder into a reinforced concrete …


Evaluation Of Guayule Resin As An Innovative Bio-Based Asphalt Alternative In Mix Performance -- Preprint, Ahmed Hemida, Magdy Abdelrahman Aug 2021

Evaluation Of Guayule Resin As An Innovative Bio-Based Asphalt Alternative In Mix Performance -- Preprint, Ahmed Hemida, Magdy Abdelrahman

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Literature revealed the potential of using guayule resin for asphalt cement replacement from the binder’s perspective. However, monitoring guayule resin through binder-aggregate mixture could disclose its performance through field. In this study, designated binders were employed to investigate the applicability of such an innovative replacer through mixture, which were neat asphalt and guayule-based binders (neat guayule, asphalt-rubber-guayule, guayule-rubber binders). Consecutively, field-simulated lab mixtures were prepared to investigate the major distresses. Moisture damage, rutting, fatigue cracking, and thermal cracking resistances were investigated using the modified Lottman (TSR) test, rut test by asphalt pavement analyzer (APA), semi-circular bending (SCB) test, and disk-shaped …


Mrda-Mgfsnet: Network Based On A Multi-Rate Dilated Attention Mechanism And Multi-Granularity Feature Sharer For Image-Based Butterflies Fine-Grained Classification, Maopeng Li, Guoxiong Zhou, Weiwei Cai, Jiayong Li, Mingxuan Li, Mingfang He, Yahui Hu, Liujun Li Aug 2021

Mrda-Mgfsnet: Network Based On A Multi-Rate Dilated Attention Mechanism And Multi-Granularity Feature Sharer For Image-Based Butterflies Fine-Grained Classification, Maopeng Li, Guoxiong Zhou, Weiwei Cai, Jiayong Li, Mingxuan Li, Mingfang He, Yahui Hu, Liujun Li

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Aiming at solving the problems of high background complexity of some butterfly images and the difficulty in identifying them caused by their small inter-class variance, we propose a new fine-grained butterfly classification architecture, called Network based on Multi-rate Dilated Attention Mechanism and Multi-granularity Feature Sharer (MRDA-MGFSNet). First, in this network, in order to effectively identify similar patterns between butterflies and suppress the information that is similar to the butterfly's features in the background but is invalid, a Multi-rate Dilated Attention Mechanism (MRDA) with a symmetrical structure which assigns different weights to channel and spatial features is designed. Second, fusing the …


Investigating The Relationship Between The Fatigue Cracking Resistance And Thermal Characteristics Of Asphalt Binders Extracted From Field Mixes Containing Recycled Materials, Eslam Deef-Allah, Magdy Abdelrahman Jun 2021

Investigating The Relationship Between The Fatigue Cracking Resistance And Thermal Characteristics Of Asphalt Binders Extracted From Field Mixes Containing Recycled Materials, Eslam Deef-Allah, Magdy Abdelrahman

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Asphalt components have a significant contribution to the fatigue cracking resistance of asphalt mixes. Softer asphalt binders, characterized through the Superpave grading system, resist fatigue cracking more than stiffer binders. During the long-term aging, the binders’ components changed from lower- to higher-molecular-weight constituents that increased binders’ stiffnesses. Using recycled materials in the mixes increases the stiffnesses of the binders inside these mixes by altering the binders’ components. The binders were extracted and recovered (E & R) from field mixes containing different percentages of recycled materials [reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and recycled asphalt shingles] and binders’ performance grades. The fatigue resistance …


Encoding Time-Series Ground Motions As Images For Convolutional Neural Networks-Based Seismic Damage Evaluation, Xinzhe Yuan, Dustin Tanksley, Pu Jiao, Liujun Li, Genda Chen, Donald C. Wunsch Apr 2021

Encoding Time-Series Ground Motions As Images For Convolutional Neural Networks-Based Seismic Damage Evaluation, Xinzhe Yuan, Dustin Tanksley, Pu Jiao, Liujun Li, Genda Chen, Donald C. Wunsch

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Traditional methods for seismic damage evaluation require manual extractions of intensity measures (IMs) to properly represent the record-to-record variation of ground motions. Contemporary methods such as convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for time series classification and seismic damage evaluation face a challenge in training due to a huge task of ground-motion image encoding. Presently, no consensus has been reached on the understanding of the most suitable encoding technique and image size (width × height × channel) for CNN-based seismic damage evaluation. In this study, we propose and develop a new image encoding technique based on time-series segmentation (TS) to transform acceleration …


Establishment Of Regional Phytoremediation Buffer Systems For Ecological Restoration In The Great Lakes Basin, Usa. Ii. New Clones Show Exceptional Promise, Andrej Pilipović, Ronald S. Zalesny, Elizabeth R. Rogers, Bernard G. Mcmahon, Neil D. Nelson, Joel Gerard Burken, Richard A. Hallett, Chung Ho Lin Apr 2021

Establishment Of Regional Phytoremediation Buffer Systems For Ecological Restoration In The Great Lakes Basin, Usa. Ii. New Clones Show Exceptional Promise, Andrej Pilipović, Ronald S. Zalesny, Elizabeth R. Rogers, Bernard G. Mcmahon, Neil D. Nelson, Joel Gerard Burken, Richard A. Hallett, Chung Ho Lin

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Poplar tree improvement strategies are needed to enhance ecosystem services’ provisioning and achieve phytoremediation objectives. We evaluated the establishment potential of new poplar clones developed at the University of Minnesota Duluth, Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI) from sixteen phytoremediation buffer systems (phyto buffers) (buffer groups: 2017 × 6; 2018 × 5; 2019 × 5) throughout the Lake Superior and Lake Michigan watersheds. We divided clones into Experimental (testing stage genotypes) and Common (commercial and/or research genotypes) clone groups and compared them with each other and each NRRI clone (NRRI group) at the phyto buffers. We tested for differences in clone …


Establishment Of Regional Phytoremediation Buffer Systems For Ecological Restoration In The Great Lakes Basin, Usa. I. Genotype X Environment Interactions, Ronald S. Zalesny, Andrej Pilipović, Elizabeth R. Rogers, Joel Gerard Burken, For Full List Of Authors, See Publisher's Website. Apr 2021

Establishment Of Regional Phytoremediation Buffer Systems For Ecological Restoration In The Great Lakes Basin, Usa. I. Genotype X Environment Interactions, Ronald S. Zalesny, Andrej Pilipović, Elizabeth R. Rogers, Joel Gerard Burken, For Full List Of Authors, See Publisher's Website.

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Poplar remediation systems are ideal for reducing runoff, cleaning groundwater, and delivering ecosystem services to the North American Great Lakes and globally. We used phytorecurrent selection (PRS) to establish sixteen phytoremediation buffer systems (phyto buffers) (buffer groups: 2017 × 6; 2018 × 5; 2019 × 5) throughout the Lake Superior and Lake Michigan watersheds comprised of twelve PRS-selected clones each year. We tested for differences in genotypes, environments, and their interactions for health, height, diameter, and volume from ages one to four years. All trees had optimal health. Mean first-, second-, and third-year volume ranged from 71 ± 26 to …


Quantitative Evaluation Of Asphalt Binder Extraction From Hot Mix Asphalt Pavement Using Ashing And Centrifuge Methods, Ahmed Hemida, Magdy Abdelrahman, Eslam Deef-Allah Mar 2021

Quantitative Evaluation Of Asphalt Binder Extraction From Hot Mix Asphalt Pavement Using Ashing And Centrifuge Methods, Ahmed Hemida, Magdy Abdelrahman, Eslam Deef-Allah

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Asphalt binder requires more investigation to be accurately and precisely extracted since it is an effective procedure for quality assurance quality control (QA/QC) and subsequent binder characterization. In this research, the authors presented a hands-on experience with binder extraction to deliver recommendations concerning the sensitive steps that may affect the outcomes (extracted binder content, Pbe%). Two mineral matter determination methods (ashing and centrifuge) were addressed based on the centrifuge extraction method. Field cores were investigated by comparing the Pbe% to the actual binder content, Pba%. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey Post-Hoc statistical analyses, …


Machine Learning Enables Prompt Prediction Of Hydration Kinetics Of Multicomponent Cementitious Systems, Jonathan Lapeyre, Taihao Han, Brooke Wiles, Hongyan Ma, Jie Huang, Gaurav Sant, Aditya Kumar Feb 2021

Machine Learning Enables Prompt Prediction Of Hydration Kinetics Of Multicomponent Cementitious Systems, Jonathan Lapeyre, Taihao Han, Brooke Wiles, Hongyan Ma, Jie Huang, Gaurav Sant, Aditya Kumar

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Carbonaceous (e.g., limestone) and aluminosilicate (e.g., calcined clay) mineral additives are routinely used to partially replace ordinary portland cement in concrete to alleviate its energy impact and carbon footprint. These mineral additives—depending on their physicochemical characteristics—alter the hydration behavior of cement; which, in turn, affects the evolution of microstructure of concrete, as well as the development of its properties (e.g., compressive strength). Numerical, reaction-kinetics models—e.g., phase boundary nucleation-and-growth models; which are based partly on theoretically-derived kinetic mechanisms, and partly on assumptions—are unable to produce a priori prediction of hydration kinetics of cement; especially in multicomponent systems, wherein chemical interactions among …