Fire hazards threaten human life and property safety. Since it is unrealistic to study human behavior during a real fire hazard, computational tools are a better choice to computational tools are a better choice to simulate fire growth and human behavior for predicting evacuation performance in chaotic emergency situations. Although...
Chloride-induced corrosion is one of the primary causes of the degradation of reinforced steel in concrete structures. Currently, the rapid chloride permeability test (RCPT) is the most specified method to determine the concrete’s resistivity to chloride ingress, thus a determining factor in assessing the durability of concrete. While it is...
Previous research has shown that using fine lightweight aggregate (FLWA) can be a promising strategy to mitigate alkali-silica reaction (ASR) in mortar and concrete. While several possible theories were proposed by researchers, discrepancies in testing methods, materials, and supporting evidence still exist. Therefore, this study was initiated. There are two...
Aggregate piers have been used for centuries, with increasing occurrence in the last few decades. Their usage has been driven by land development demand and enabled through equipment and engineering improvements. Understanding the principles controlling bearing capacities and serviceability performance has been an ongoing area of interest for structures supported...
Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), also known as drones, are an increasingly popular method of collecting surveying and mapping data. Two common drone-based mapping techniques are lidar and structure from motion (SfM) photogrammetry, and a frequently-heard (yet nearly impossible to answer) question is: “which is better?” The most common metric for...
Bio-cementation is a promising method for the liquefiable mitigation of loose saturated sands. In the improvement process a bacterium that can be found naturally in soil deposits is fed urea. The bacterium consumes and breaks down the urea to form ammonium and carbonate. In the presence of calcium, calcium carbonate...
This thesis presents a novel approach for propagation of uncertainty in river systems. Errors in data observations and predictions (e.g., stream inflows), in model parameters, and resulting from the discretization of continuous systems, all point to the need to accurately quantify the amount of uncertainty carried through the modeling process....
In this study, a coupled potential flow-viscous flow model is used for numerical wave tank simulation. The solver satisfies all the requirements for such a simulation environment. The coupling scheme is based on a non-overlapping heterogeneous domain decomposition method. In this method, the flow domain consists of two subdomains. In...
This thesis presents an analytical, experimental and numerical study of the initiation of flows in a siphon for rapid and gradual openings of a downstream valve. Three initial water levels in the upstream tank and four final positions for the downstream valve were investigated. Two opening times of the downstream...
State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) are the primary owners of roadway infrastructure in the United States. Many of the employees of state DOTs work on roadway work sites, putting them at disproportionately higher risks of injury or fatality. A review of the literature determined that a combination of policies, standards,...
Improving safety education could contribute to the preparation of better professional engineers. Safety topics are not holistically embedded in transportation course curricula. This thesis explores the current state in which safety is being incorporated in transportation course curricula in terms of design and compares the uses of safety data in...
Driving simulation is widely accepted as a safe, effective, and economical alternative for investigating driver behavior in a variety of contexts. However, in order to apply simulator-based research results to real-world settings, the performance measures acquired through simulated driving experiments must first be validated. This research was aimed at validating...
Three-dimensional laser scanning has revolutionized spatial data acquisition and can be completed from a variety of platforms including airborne (ALS), mobile (MLS), and static terrestrial (TLS) laser scanning. MLS is a rapidly evolving technology that provides increases in efficiency and safety over static TLS, while still providing similar levels of...
Real time networks (RTNs) have become popular for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) surveys because highly accurate positions can be derived in seconds to minutes compared to hours as required with static sessions. To evaluate the accuracy of these shorter-duration, RTN GNSS observations and their potential for use as a...
The response of adjacent structural systems to earthquake motions is investigated using the finite element framework OpenSees. Results of sensitivity analyses demonstrate that structural response quantities can increase in either or both of the adjacent structures for specific configurations. The structural models used include steel moment-resisting frames and rigid shear...
Natural disasters could result in unnecessary loss of life and disproportionate suffering to families and communities if evacuation plans are not in place or understood by the public. In the Pacific Northwest, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami from the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) represents one of the most pressing...
Using recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) as a replacement for natural aggregate in new concrete is a promising way to increase the overall sustainability of new concrete. This has been hindered, however, by a general perception that RCA is a sub-standard material due to the lack of technical guidance, specifically related...
Reflection of an obliquely incident solitary wave at a vertical wall is studied experimentally in the laboratory wave tank. Precision measurements of water-surface variations are achieved with the aid of laser-induced fluorescent (LIF) technique and detailed temporal and spatial features of the
Mach reflection are captured. During the development stage...
Increasingly congested surface transportation network in urban areas and grow-ing land values make underground transportation systems more attractive for high-ways (i.e., tunnels) and metro system compared to other options [1]. An underground transportation system can preserve the land above for recreational parks, commer-cial buildings, residential homes, or other purposes while...
This thesis is comprised of two manuscripts based on a laboratory experiment conducted to examine realistic wave forcing on a vertical wall subjected to tsunami loading. The first manuscript examined tsunami force and pressure distributions on a rigid wall that was fronted by a small seawall. Six different seawall heights...