Browsing by Author "Hughes, Mary"

Now showing items 1-20 of 36

3-D Model Development of Metal Building Systems with Hard Walls

Langley, Michael (2016-04-05)

Metal Buildings with precast concrete or masonry walls (hard walls) have been identified by analytical modeling, shake table tests, and earthquake reconnaissance as being susceptible to collapse. While the steel frames ...

Alternative Solid Fuels for the Production of Portland Cement

Akkapeddi, Srikanth (2008-12-15)

Portland cement manufacturing involves the combustion of fuels with various raw materials at approximately 2,700 °F (1,500 °C) to produce clinker. Fuel costs and environmental concerns have encouraged the cement industry ...

Assessment of the Coefficient of Thermal Expansion of Alabama Concrete

Sakyi-Bekoe, Kwame (2008-12-15)

The coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) is a fundamental property of portland cement concrete. It represents the change in unit length of concrete per degree of temperature change. The CTE is a very important property ...

Automated Screening Tool for the Stability of Highway Bridges Subject to Scour

Donnee, Nicole (2008-05-15)

Most bridges in Alabama that are over shallow bodies of water, including small creeks, wetlands, and marshes, were designed so that the bridge superstructure is supported on pile bents. During major flood events, excessive ...

Bond Behavior of Prestressed Reinforcement in Beams Constructed with Self-Consolidating Concrete

Levy, Kelly (2007-05-15)

Accurate behavioral characteristics of self-consolidating concrete (SCC) should be established prior to its widespread implementation in prestressed members. This thesis describes an investigation of bond behavior of ...

Catenary Action in Steel Framed Structures with Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Infill & Buckling Restrained Braces

Eletrabi, Haitham (2014-12-04)

The progressive collapse of structures is considered a major concern for designers since the Ronan Point incident. Preventing and mitigating progressive collapse has become a serious issue for all types of buildings. ...

Characterization of Multi-Phase Performance-Based Passive Control Systems

Rawlinson, Taylor (2011-10-27)

Typical passive control devices have inherent strengths and weaknesses as seismic protection systems. A Multi-phase Passive Control System (MPCS) combines two types of passive control devices in a system in order to offset ...

Creep Behavior of Self-Consolidating Concrete

Kavanaugh, Bryan (2008-08-15)

Self-consolidating concrete (SCC) is a highly flowable material that has the ability to improve the quality and durability of structures; however, much is still unknown about the hardened properties of this material, ...

Determination of Elastic Constants and Damage in Ceramic Matrix Composites Using Ultrasonic Wave Speed Measurements

Spurlock, Chad (2006-12-15)

MATLAB programs were developed to compute the elastic constants and damage of ceramic matrix composites using ultrasonic wave speed measurements. The matrix of elastic stiffnesses, C, relates the material stresses and ...

Determination of Hurricane Surge Wave Forces on Bridge Superstructures and Design/retrofit Options to Mitigate or Sustain These Forces

Sawyer, Alvin (2008-05-15)

An increasingly common occurrence when strong hurricanes come ashore along the Gulf of Mexico is that the hurricane surge/surface waves lift and push the superstructures of coastline bridges from their support bents into ...

Development of a Single-Degree-of-Freedom Algorithm for the Analysis of Buried Composite Pipes Subjected to Internal Dynamic Pressure

Sadler, Dustin (2011-12-05)

The overall objective of this research project was to develop a practical engineering methodology for the analysis of underground composite pipes subjected to internal dynamic loading. The need for this analytical methodology ...

Development of Implementation Guidelines to Assess the Strength of Soil Cement Base in Alabama

Mueller, Emily (2020-11-16)

Soil cement is a mixture of soil, portland cement, and water that forms a strong, durable, frost-resistant pavement base once compacted and cured. Variation among construction practices and concerns of current quality ...

Development of Jobsite Cylinder Curing Practices for the Alabama Concrete Industry

Fleming, Kyle (2023-04-24)

In concrete construction projects, quality assurance test cylinders are made to evaluate the quality of the concrete delivered to a jobsite. In order to accurately evaluate these cylinders, they must be cured according to ...

Development, Experimentation, and Implementation of a Gap Damper System to Limit Displacements in Extreme Ground Motions

Rawlinson, Taylor (2015-05-05)

Studies have shown the effectiveness of providing supplemental energy dissipation in base-isolated structures to reduce displacements at the isolation level, often with consequences to superstructure performance. A previous ...

Documentation of the Rapid Replacement of Four GDOT Bridge Decks

Umphrey, Joshua (2006-05-15)

The Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) has many interstate bridges near downtown Birmingham which have good substructures and superstructures, but suffer from significant deck cracking and deterioration. The ...

Durability of Nitinol for Structural Applications

McCarty, David (2006-08-15)

Nitinol is a shape memory alloy that has recently been studied for its suitability as a material in energy dissipation devices in structures. The alloy has excellent structural capabilities in terms of strength and ...

Effect of Lightweight Aggregate on Early-Age Cracking of Mass Concrete

Tankasala, Aravind (2017-12-06)

Early-age cracking in mass concrete structures is a severe problem which could lead to long-term serviceability related problems in the structure. In this dissertation, the effect of using lightweight aggregates (LWAs) on ...

Evaluation of Early-Age Cracking Sensitivity in Bridge Deck Concrete

Rao, Akash (2008-12-15)

Early-age cracking is a problem in bridge deck concrete as it can have several detrimental effects on long-term behavior and durability. The primary objective of this project was to evaluate the early-age cracking tendency ...

Evaluation of Nondestructive Test Methods for Concrete Bridge Deck Condition Assessment

Coleman, Zachary (2021-07-14)

To facilitate locating subsurface concrete bridge deck defects and determining their corresponding severity, departments of transportation are switching to nondestructive test (NDT) methods. However, the difficulty in ...

Evaluation of Nondestructive Testing Methods to Assess the Condition of Concrete Bridge Decks

Jetzel, Christian (2021-08-02)

Bridges are critical parts of the transportation infrastructure in the United States and throughout the world. During their lifecycle, reinforced-concrete bridge decks can experience distresses and defects in the form of ...