Matching Items (22)
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Description
There is growing concern over the future availability of water for electricity generation. Because of a rapidly growing population coupled with an arid climate, the Western United States faces a particularly acute water/energy challenge, as installation of new electricity capacity is expected to be required in the areas with the

There is growing concern over the future availability of water for electricity generation. Because of a rapidly growing population coupled with an arid climate, the Western United States faces a particularly acute water/energy challenge, as installation of new electricity capacity is expected to be required in the areas with the most limited water availability. Electricity trading is anticipated to be an important strategy for avoiding further local water stress, especially during drought and in the areas with the most rapidly growing populations. Transfers of electricity imply transfers of "virtual water" - water required for the production of a product. Yet, as a result of sizable demand growth, there may not be excess capacity in the system to support trade as an adaptive response to long lasting drought. As the grid inevitably expands capacity due to higher demand, or adapts to anticipated climate change, capacity additions should be selected and sited to increase system resilience to drought. This paper explores the tradeoff between virtual water and local water/energy infrastructure development for the purpose of enhancing the Western US power grid's resilience to drought. A simple linear model is developed that estimates the economically optimal configuration of the Western US power grid given water constraints. The model indicates that natural gas combined cycle power plants combined with increased interstate trade in power and virtual water provide the greatest opportunity for cost effective and water efficient grid expansion. Such expansion, as well as drought conditions, may shift and increase virtual water trade patterns, as states with ample water resources and a competitive advantage in developing power sources become net exporters, and states with limited water or higher costs become importers.
ContributorsHerron, Seth (Author) / Ruddell, Benjamin L (Thesis advisor) / Ariaratnam, Samuel (Thesis advisor) / Allenby, Braden (Committee member) / Williams, Eric (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
The computation of the fundamental mode in structural moment frames provides valuable insight into the physical response of the frame to dynamic or time-varying loads. In standard practice, it is not necessary to solve for all n mode shapes in a structural system; it is therefore practical to limit the

The computation of the fundamental mode in structural moment frames provides valuable insight into the physical response of the frame to dynamic or time-varying loads. In standard practice, it is not necessary to solve for all n mode shapes in a structural system; it is therefore practical to limit the system to some determined number of r significant mode shapes. Current building codes, such as the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), require certain class of structures to obtain 90% effective mass participation as a way to estimate the accuracy of a solution for base shear motion. A parametric study was performed from the collected data obtained by the analysis of a large number of framed structures. The purpose of this study was the development of rules for the required number of r significant modes to meet the ASCE code requirements. The study was based on the implementation of an algorithm and a computer program developed in the past. The algorithm is based on Householders Transformations, QR Factorization, and Inverse Iteration and it extracts a requested s (s<< n) number of predominate mode shapes and periods. Only the first r (r < s) of these modes are accurate. To verify the accuracy of the algorithm a variety of building frames have been analyzed using the commercially available structural software (RISA 3D) as a benchmark. The salient features of the algorithm are presented briefly in this study.
ContributorsGrantham, Jonathan (Author) / Fafitis, Apostolos (Thesis advisor) / Attard, Thomas (Committee member) / Houston, Sandra (Committee member) / Hjelmstad, Keith (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
This study focused on investigating the ability of a polymeric-enhanced high-tenacity fabric composite called CarbonFlex to mitigate damages from multi-natural hazards, which are earthquakes and tornadoes, in wood-framed structures. Typically, wood-framed shear wall is a seismic protection system used in low-rise wood structures. It is well-known that the main energy

This study focused on investigating the ability of a polymeric-enhanced high-tenacity fabric composite called CarbonFlex to mitigate damages from multi-natural hazards, which are earthquakes and tornadoes, in wood-framed structures. Typically, wood-framed shear wall is a seismic protection system used in low-rise wood structures. It is well-known that the main energy dissipation of the system is its fasteners (nails) which are not enough to dissipate energy leading to decreasing of structure's integrity. Moreover, wood shear walls could not sustain their stiffness after experiencing moderate wall drift which made them susceptible to strong aftershocks. Therefore, CarbonFlex shear wall system was proposed to be used in the wood-framed structures. Seven full-size CarbonFlex shear walls and a CarbonFlex wrapped structures were tested. The results were compared to those of conventional wood-framed shear walls and a wood structure. The comparisons indicated that CarbonFlex specimens could sustain their strength and fully recover their initial stiffness although they experienced four percent story drift while the stiffness of the conventional structure dramatically degraded. This indicated that CarbonFlex shear wall systems provided a better seismic protection to wood-framed structures. To evaluate capability of CarbonFlex to resist impact damages from wind-borne debris in tornadoes, several debris impact tests of CarbonFlex and a carbon fiber reinforced storm shelter's wall panels were conducted. The results showed that three CarbonFlex wall panels passed the test at the highest debris impact speed and the other two passed the test at the second highest speed while the carbon fiber panel failed both impact speeds.
ContributorsDhiradhamvit, Kittinan (Author) / Attard, Thomas L (Thesis advisor) / Fafitis, Apostolos (Thesis advisor) / Neithalath, Narayanan (Committee member) / Thomas, Benjamin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
As more and more stadia structures nowadays are being built by making use of new high strength building materials which tend to be lighter than the "old" ones, composite systems and also the fact that engineers, contractors and clients want their structures as optimized as possible, in terms of minimal

As more and more stadia structures nowadays are being built by making use of new high strength building materials which tend to be lighter than the "old" ones, composite systems and also the fact that engineers, contractors and clients want their structures as optimized as possible, in terms of minimal materials used, there is an inevitable side effect that comes with this. The result is that structures are more flexible, and thus they become susceptible to undergone vibration problems due to the action of dynamic loading. Pop/rock concerts, exhibitions, boxing matches, and so forth are staged to supplement the football/sport seasons. Consequently, stadia structures must resist not only static loading, but also dynamic loading, such as the human induced loads from various activities of the spectators which include, standing, jumping, stamping, clapping and dancing, particularly in response to touchdowns (in football matches) or musical beats (during concerts). Active and passive models of humans are studied to see how they influence the response in TCF Bank Stadium for different ranges in excitation frequencies, by performing dynamic analyses and comparing the results with the ones obtained from static analysis. Parameter estimation and system identification in mechanical sciences and structural engineering have become increasingly important areas of research in the last three decades. Many nondestructive testing methods are based on the concepts of system identification and parameter estimation. In this document, two parameter estimation algorithms are studied, namely the Equation Error Estimator and the Output Error Estimator, through the simulation of modal data obtained from a computer structural analysis program and comparisons of their results are presented so that future researchers are better informed about the two and therefore can decide which one would give the best results for their application.
ContributorsAldaco Lopez, Manuel (Author) / Hjelmstad, Keith D. (Thesis advisor) / Rajan, Subramaniam D. (Committee member) / Fafitis, Apostolos (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
Buildings and other structures, all components and cladding thereof, shall be designed and constructed to resist the wind loads are required in all wind codes. Simple quasi-static treatment of wind loads, which is universally applied to design of low to medium-rise structures, can be either overly conservative or erroneous under-estimated

Buildings and other structures, all components and cladding thereof, shall be designed and constructed to resist the wind loads are required in all wind codes. Simple quasi-static treatment of wind loads, which is universally applied to design of low to medium-rise structures, can be either overly conservative or erroneous under-estimated for design of high-rise structures. Dynamic response, vortex, wind directionality, and shedding from other structures are all complicated key factors suppose to be considered in design. Meanwhile, wind tunnel testing is expansive, difficult and sometimes inaccurate even if it is a widely used method in simulation of aerodynamic response. Computational Fluid dynamics (CFD), historically, were two-dimensional (2D) method using conformal transformations of the flow about a cylinder to the flow about an airfoil were developed in the 1930s. A number of three-dimensional (3D) codes were developed, leading to numerous commercial packages, which is more accessible and economical for wind load analysis.
ContributorsZhu, Xitong (Author) / Hjelmstad, Keith D. (Thesis advisor) / Rajan, Subramaniam D. (Committee member) / Fafitis, Apostolos (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
The thesis examines how high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe installed by horizontal directional drilling (HDD) and traditional open trench (OT) construction techniques behave differently in saturated soil conditions typical of river crossings. Design fundamentals for depth of cover are analogous between HDD and OT; however, how the product pipe is

The thesis examines how high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe installed by horizontal directional drilling (HDD) and traditional open trench (OT) construction techniques behave differently in saturated soil conditions typical of river crossings. Design fundamentals for depth of cover are analogous between HDD and OT; however, how the product pipe is situated in the soil medium is vastly different. This distinction in pipe bedding can produce significant differences in the post installation phase. The research was inspired by several incidents involving plastic pipe installed beneath rivers by HDD where the pipeline penetrated the overburden soil and floated to the surface after installation. It was hypothesized that pipes installed by HDD have a larger effective volume due to the presence of low permeability bentonite based drilling fluids in the annular space on completion of the installation. This increased effective volume of the pipe increases the buoyant force of the pipe compared to the same product diameter installed by OT methods, especially in situations where the pipe is installed below the ground water table. To simulate these conditions, a real-scale experiment was constructed to model the behavior of buried pipelines submerged in saturated silty soils. A full factorial design was developed to analyze scenarios with pipe diameters of 50, 75, and 100 mm installed at varying depths in a silty soil simulating an alluvial deposition. Contrary to the experimental hypothesis, pipes installed by OT required a greater depth of cover to prevent pipe floatation than similarly sized pipe installed by HDD. The results suggested that pipes installed by HDD are better suited to survive changing depths of cover. In addition, finite element method (FEM) modeling was conducted to understand soil stress patterns in the soil overburden post-installation. Maximum soil stresses occurring in the soil overburden between post-OT and HDD installation scenarios were compared to understand the pattern of total soil stress incurred by the two construction methods. The results of the analysis showed that OT installation methods triggered a greater total soil stress than HDD installation methods. The annular space in HDD resulted in less soil stress occurring in the soil overburden. Furthermore, the diameter of the HDD annular space influenced the soil stress that occurred in the soil overburden, while the density of drilling fluids did not vastly affect soil stress variations. Thus, the diameter of the annular space could impact soil stress patterns in HDD installations post-construction. With these findings engineers and designers may plan, design, and construct more efficient river-crossing projects.
ContributorsCho, Chin-sŏng (Author) / Ariaratnam, Samuel (Thesis advisor) / Lueke, Jason (Thesis advisor) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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Description
This dissertation presents a portable methodology for holistic planning and optimization of right of way infrastructure rehabilitation that was designed to generate monetary savings when compared to planning that only considers single infrastructure components. Holistic right of way infrastructure planning requires simultaneous consideration of the three right of way infrastructure

This dissertation presents a portable methodology for holistic planning and optimization of right of way infrastructure rehabilitation that was designed to generate monetary savings when compared to planning that only considers single infrastructure components. Holistic right of way infrastructure planning requires simultaneous consideration of the three right of way infrastructure components that are typically owned and operated under the same municipal umbrella: roads, sewer, and water. The traditional paradigm for the planning of right way asset management involves operating in silos where there is little collaboration amongst different utility departments in the planning of maintenance, rehabilitation, and renewal projects. By collaborating across utilities during the planning phase, savings can be achieved when collocated rehabilitation projects from different right of way infrastructure components are synchronized to occur at the same time. These savings are in the form of shared overhead and mobilization costs, and roadway projects providing open space for subsurface utilities. Individual component models and a holistic model that utilize evolutionary algorithms to optimize five year maintenance, rehabilitation, and renewal plans for the road, sewer, and water components were created and compared. The models were designed to be portable so that they could be used with any infrastructure condition rating, deterioration modeling, and criticality assessment systems that might already be in place with a municipality. The models attempt to minimize the overall component score, which is a function of the criticality and condition of the segments within each network, by prescribing asset management activities to different segments within a component network while subject to a constraining budget. The individual models were designed to represent the traditional decision making paradigm and were compared to the holistic model. In testing at three different budget levels, the holistic model outperformed the individual models in the ability to generate five year plans that optimized prescribed maintenance, rehabilitation and renewal for various segments in order to achieve the goal of improving the component score. The methodology also achieved the goal of being portable, in that it is compatible with any condition rating, deterioration, and criticality system.
ContributorsCarey, Brad David (Author) / Lueke, Jason S (Thesis advisor) / Ariaratnam, Samuel (Committee member) / Bashford, Howard (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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This research explores some of the issues, challenges and dilemmas of existing research found in the construction workforce, it starts with past research that can be found on the current problems in the industry and how it has developed. It covers the distinguishing factors that influence a construction company's success

This research explores some of the issues, challenges and dilemmas of existing research found in the construction workforce, it starts with past research that can be found on the current problems in the industry and how it has developed. It covers the distinguishing factors that influence a construction company's success and how it has affected depending on the characteristics of the company. It was to examine the effectiveness of the recruitment and selection practices of entrants in the construction industry workforce and pathways to improve those practices.
ContributorsHatfield, Whitney (Author) / Ariaratnam, Samuel (Thesis advisor) / Chasey, Allan (Committee member) / Bearup, Wylie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
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Description
The water and wastewater industry in the United States is in dire need of renovation due to dwindling infrastructure and requires substantial reinvestment. Design-bid-build (DBB) is the traditional method of project delivery most widely applied in this industry. However, alternative project delivery methods (APDM) are on the rise and touting

The water and wastewater industry in the United States is in dire need of renovation due to dwindling infrastructure and requires substantial reinvestment. Design-bid-build (DBB) is the traditional method of project delivery most widely applied in this industry. However, alternative project delivery methods (APDM) are on the rise and touting the benefits of reduced project schedule and cost. The main purpose of this study is to conduct a qualitative and quantitative performance evaluation to assess the current impact of APDM in the water and wastewater industry. A national survey was conducted targeting completed water and wastewater treatment plant projects. Responses were obtained from 75 utilities and constructors that either completed their projects using DBB, construction manager at risk (CMAR), or design-build (DB). Data analysis revealed that CMAR and DB statistically outperformed DBB in terms of project speed and intensity. Performance metrics such as cost growth, schedule growth, unit cost, factors influencing project delivery method selection, scope changes, warranty and latent defects, and several others are also evaluated. The main contribution of this study was that it was able to show that for the same project cost, water and wastewater treatment plants could be delivered under a faster schedule and with higher quality through the utilization of APDM.
ContributorsFeghaly, Jeffrey (Author) / El Asmar, Mounir (Thesis advisor) / Ariaratnam, Samuel (Thesis advisor) / Bearup, Wylie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
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DescriptionThis thesis contains the experimental methods, analysis and results used to test the energy dissipation and impact resistance characteristics of CarbonFlex, a lightweight composite that combines strong fiber technology with a unique polymer coating for use in wood residential structures. Comparisons are made between CarbonFlex and the traditional plywood model.
ContributorsCarroll, Matthew Stokeley (Author) / Attard, Thomas (Thesis director) / Fafitis, Apostolos (Committee member) / Parrish, Kristen (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2013-05