Transportation Engineering Commons^™

Framework Of Internal Damage Identification In Inhomogeneous Medium Interweaving Wave Scattering Model And Deep Learning, Suyun Ham, Stefan Romanoschi, Yin Chao Wu, Dafnik Saril Kumar David

Publications

The primary objective of this project is to investigate the framework of internal damage identification in inhomogeneous media (IHM) using deep learning techniques and wave scattering. The study focuses on two main steps: 1) analyzing the wave response pattern in homogeneous media (HM) and 2) characterizing the wave response variation (WRV) in IHM with different aggregate sizes and random distributions. The WRV patterns are then classified and used to predict internal damage using a convolutional neural network (CNN). The accuracy of the finite element (FE) model is verified using laboratory tests with artificial internal crack models of varying depths. The …

Identifying Wrong-Way Driving Entry Points On Interstate Highways Using Land-Use Impact Assessment And 911 Calls, Farman Mia, Samer Dessouky

Publications

The research aims to provide insight into the initiation event of Wrong-way Driving (WWD) on highways. The intense severity of a WWD accident is encouraging the authorities to install mitigation systems that will ensure safety for motorists on highways. The WWD events are mostly resulting of intoxicated driving, where the unconscious driver takes the wrong way to enter the highway and place other motorists into life-threatening danger. This research attempted to explore from basic knowledge of WWD occurrence to examine the origin and driving philosophy of intoxicated drivers from land-use impact and mathematical modeling point of views. To identify the …

Automated Vehicle Impacts On Underserved Populations, Kate Kyung Hyun, Stephen Mattingly, Katie Kam

Publications

This research report describes the scenario framework created to determine the potential role automated vehicles (AVs) have in benefiting and adversely impacting the following underserved populations: people with disabilities and impairments (visually, hearing, physically, intellectually) and with autism spectrum disorder, younger and older populations, immigrants, low income, indigenous, rural, female and LGBTQ+, vulnerable road users (cyclists, pedestrians, low speed riders and drivers), and minority races. After presenting a literature review, three chapters explain the 3 modules of the framework: (1) scenario construction, (2) scenario factors, and (3) GIS methodology for evaluating community level AV impacts. Module 1 describes the use …

Monotonic And Cyclic Behavior Of High Strength Reinforcing Steel (Hsrs) After High Temperature Exposure, Himan Hojat Jalali, Moein Ebrahimi, Khaled Abuhishmeh, Mohammadamin Soltanianfard

Publications

Conventional reinforced concrete transportation structures in North America often use Grade 40 ksi-60 ksi reinforcing steel. The introduction of high strength reinforcing steel (HSRS) with higher yield strength in the reinforced concrete industry has led to many economic and workability advantages such as construction time saving, reduced labor cost and steel consumption which in turn alleviates congestion of reinforcement, savings in transportation and deliveries that finally results in lower carbon emission. Despite these benefits, many states, including those in Region 6, have not widely adopted the use of higher strength reinforcing steels in practice due to lack of knowledge and …

Green Mobility In Texas: Comparative Environmental Impacts And Lifecycle Cost Analysis Of Hybrid, Electric, And Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars, Raghava R. Kommalapati, Hongbo Du, Md Jobair Bin Alam

Publications

Compared to gasoline/diesel cars and battery electric cars (BECs), hydrogen fuel cell cars (HFCCs) are relatively new. Two main advantages of HFCCs over electric vehicles are no special requirements for heavy batteries and long charging time. There is no HFCC in Texas; thus, exploring the use of electricity or hydrogen produced from renewable energies for personal cars and mitigating vehicle emissions is critical for sustaining a long-term decarburization strategy for megacities like Houston and Dallas. This project addressed this critical gap and developed environmental impacts and cost assessments for hybrid gasoline cars, BECs, and HFCCs in Texas under several possible …

Smart3pm: Smart Pavement Monitoring, Management, And Maintenance, Damien Stephens, Mena Souliman, Mukul Shirvaikar, Samer Dessouky

Publications

An application specific multi-platform smartphone application can utilize on-board accelerometer, gyroscope, and GPS sensors, along with software derived signals from the same sensors, to sample vibrational and geolocation datasets to capture pavement distresses such as potholes when mounted in a standardized configuration in a vehicle. Several observations were made with regard to the signals obtained from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and GPS sensors, and it was determined that the raw sensor outputs are capable of sampling statistically significant datasets which can be used to distinguish pavement distress from normal driving conditions. Furthermore, an approximate sensor noise margin is established, and a …

Design Of 3d Printable Eco-Concrete By Utilizing Rheology Modifiers For Sustainable Infrastructure, Maryam Hojati, Muhammad Saeed Zafar

Publications

In recent years, 3D printing technology has gained significant momentum across various industries within the construction sector, 3D printing has emerged as a promising technique; however, there are challenges associated with designing suitable construction materials and adjusting their properties for the 3D printing process. One of the key considerations in this regard is the rheological properties, encompassing parameters such as viscosity, yield stress, and thixotropy. These properties play a pivotal role in shaping the characteristics of 3D-printed concrete, both in its fresh and hardened states, including buildability, extrudability, and mechanical performance. Researchers have traditionally relied on chemical admixtures, such as …

Development Of A Web Application For Traffic Accident Mapping And Analysis, Susan Bogus Halter, Su Zhang, Arian Golrokh Amin

Publications

It is widely accepted that road traffic safety is a significant public health issue. One of the effective ways to improve road traffic safety is analyzing crash data to understand where traffic accidents occur, identify associated spatial and temporal patterns, and determine causation. In the State of New Mexico, locations of traffic accidents are currently visualized using a variety of static maps. Although these statics maps are easier to create and producers can control how users view the data, users cannot customize these maps to meet their special needs. That being said, new maps need to be created for any …

Motorcycle Crash Analysis, Hatim Sharif, Samer Dessouky

Publications

The Fatality Analysis Reporting System database shows that, in stark contrast to the 34 percent decline in non-motorcyclist crash–related fatalities, motorcyclist crash–related fatalities were up 86 percent with only three year-to-year declines since 1997, while non-motorcyclist crash–related fatalities had 13 year-to-year declines since 1997. At the national level, the rate of motorcyclist fatalities per vehicle mile traveled is 29 times higher than the rate among passenger car occupants, with overall injury rates approximately five times higher among motorcyclists than passenger car occupants. Given the frequency of motorcycle crashes and their staggering toll in terms of loss of life and economic …

Bridge Inspection Training And Enhanced Operations Using Augmented Reality, Fernando Moreu, Ali Mohammadkhorasani, Kaveh Malek

Publications

This research project focused on the innovative application of Augmented Reality (AR) headsets to enhance bridge inspection processes and inspection training. The study encompassed the visualization of 3D point cloud data, utilized the Eye-Tracking features of AR headsets for inspection quantification, evaluate the applicability of AR in the bridge inspection training and instruction of an AR virtual menu for the in-field bridge inspection. The primary tasks included establishing a database connection for AR headset, designing an AR menu tailored for bridge inspection, devising an evaluation method based on Eye-Tracking capabilities, and integrating AR into bridge inspection training. Once the technical …

Deep Reinforcement Learning-Based Digital Twin For Risk Improved Decision Making In Transportation Construction, Yong-Cheol Lee, Anisha Deria

Publications

Organizing and overseeing a large number of transportation construction and maintenance projects that generally entail several miles of a worksite are a critical burden for each DOT. In addition, it requires manual monitoring of a project or construction managers to identify a progress status, a work activity, and a safety issue in a job site. Because of the projected huge volume, complexity, significant impacts of future transportation infrastructure projects, it is evident that we are now facing a critical need to create a means of improving the results of work zone management and evaluating their impacts on our society. In …

The Effect Of Covid-19 Lockdown On Traffic Crashes In Texas., Hatim Sharif, Samer Dessouky

Publications

An analysis of traffic patterns during COVID-19 has identified that reduction in the miles traveled has a significant negative correlation with COVID-19 cases and deaths across the USA. Preliminary statistics in the US suggest an increase in fatal crashes over the period of the lockdown in comparison to the same period in previous years. Moreover, while total crashes are down, motor vehicle crashes involving non-motorists became more prevalent. At the same time, non-motorist traffic has increased while motor vehicle traffic and crashes have shifted to the local systems. The main goal of this research is to perform a comprehensive evaluation …

Calcined Clays As Alternative Supplementary Cementitious Material And Precursor For Geopolymer Binders In Transportation Infrastructure, Hassan Noorvand, Miladin Radovic, Marwa Hassan, Adriana A. Alvarado, Oscar Huang

Publications

This project aimed to assess the feasibility of using locally sourced calcined kaolinitic clays both as supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) and as precursors for synthesizing geopolymers (GPs). For SCMs, a comprehensive set of characterizations was conducted, including X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), particle size analysis, and loss on ignition (LOI), along with evaluations of concrete properties such as strength activity index (SAI), slump, air content, compressive strength, and surface resistivity. For GPs, compressive strength was tested. The study yielded several key findings: (1) Three types of calcined clays (CCs) were analyzed based …

Prediction Of Moisture Resistance Of Polymeric Asphalt Binders Through The Atomic Force Microscopy (Afm) Technique, Zahid Hossain, Ashraf Elsayed, Khaja Sameer Sadat

Publications

Moisture damage is a significant concern for state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) and other agencies due to its adverse impact on pavement performance as well as longevity. The main focus of the current study project is to quantify, at the molecular level, the interaction between binder and aggregate at the interface level in the form of adhesion forces between bitumen samples and minerals of various chemical compositions. First of all, A thorough review of the literature on moisture degradation in asphalts was conducted. Based on the literature review, a comprehensive project plan and test matrix were created. Binder samples from …

Early-Age Strength Monitoring Of Sensor-Embedded 3d Printed Structures, Ali Kazemian, Marwa Hassan, Hassan Noorvand, Gabriel Arce, Kasra Banijamali

Publications

Construction 3D printing (C3DP) is an automated technology that has the potential to reduce the construction time and cost by utilizing different types of robotic systems. Due to the absence of formwork in C3DP, potential excessive water evaporation can cause issues to the freshly-printed structures that are exposed to the ambient curing condition. Moreover, the 3D printed elements should carry the service loads in a short time after printing to provide a load-bearing capacity. Destructive and non-destructive methods are the two types of methods that are being used in the construction industry for quality monitoring. Due to the time-consuming nature …

Spatial Equity In Accessing Critical Facilities During Hurricanes, Pooya Komeilian

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Florida encounters multiple natural disasters every year, making evacuation a critical mitigation plan when severe impacts are predicted. Evacuation is a complex procedure that involves everything from household decision-making to large-scale traffic network analysis. It also addresses logistical issues, such as transporting impacted people to shelters or medical centers. Access to shelters, gas stations, and lodgings is of utmost importance, as numerous studies and surveys have shown that some people prefer not to evacuate, even if they perceive the disaster risk to be very high.

Based on this, the present study follows two phases to address gaps in evacuation studies. …

Railroad Condition Monitoring Using Distributed Acoustic Sensing And Deep Learning Techniques, Md Arifur Rahman

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Proper condition monitoring has been a major issue among railroad administrations since it might cause catastrophic dilemmas that lead to fatalities or damage to the infrastructure. Although various aspects of train safety have been conducted by scholars, in-motion monitoring detection of defect occurrence, cause, and severity is still a big concern. Hence extensive studies are still required to enhance the accuracy of inspection methods for railroad condition monitoring (CM). Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) has been recognized as a promising method because of its sensing capabilities over long distances and for massive structures. As DAS produces large datasets, algorithms for precise …

Contribution Of High Turbidity To Tidal Dynamics In A Curved Channel In Zhoushan Islands, China, Li Li, Fangzhou Shen, Zhiguo He, Gangfeng Ma, Jiachen Wang, Kailong Huangfu

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The curved tidal channel, Luotou Deep-water Navigational Channel, is the main channel of the Ningbo Zhoushan Port, which is ranked first in the world. Tidal dynamics in the channel are spatially and temporally asymmetric. In this study, the three-dimensional tidal dynamics in the channel were analyzed using field data and simulated using FVCOM. The results show that the tides in the channel flood/ebb along the northern/southern bank near the bottom/surface layer and these asymmetries are due to the imbalanced Coriolis force, centrifugal force, sea-level gradient, and density gradient. Residual current velocity peaks (0.7 m/s) in the middle of the channel …