Project Abstracts: 2008 to 2009
Computer Aided Engineering
Improved Water Resources Sustainability Through Multi-time Scale Forecasting and Adaptive Multi-purpose Reservoir Management S. Arumugam and S. Ranjithan; National Science Foundation (03/05 to 02/11)
This project has three major objectives. The first is to develop an integrated approach to promote sustainable water systems through combined application of both weather information-based near-term streamflow forecasts and climate-based short-term streamflow forecasts. The second objective is to apply and demonstrate the approach for two water supply systems, one experiencing rapid increase in water demand in NC, and another serving multiples uses in Virginia. The third objective is to develop an instructional tool for assessing various water management measures and streamflow forecasts in promoting sustainable water management and to incorporate the tool in undergraduate/graduate curricula at several Universities.
A Discrete Numerical Investigation into Soil-Structure Interaction with Extraterrestrial Applications
T.M. Evans;
NASA/NC Space Grant Program (04/09 to 03/10)
While there has been scientific study of the soil and rock materials of the surface of the Moon and Mars, little is known about their engineering properties due to the difficulty and cost associated with collecting and transporting to Earth enough material to perform meaningful tests. Without this information, it is impossible to develop optimized designs for wheels, tires, foundation systems, landing gear, resource recovery infrastructure, or exploration tools. To circumvent the difficulties associated with collecting and testing extraterrestrial soil, this work will develop discrete numerical models for simulating soil-structure interaction that will be used to provide a reasonable prediction of the bulk material properties of extraterrestrial granular matter.
Integration of Sensor Technologies into the Civil Engineerng Curriculum
T.M. Evans and M.A. Gabr;
National Science Foundation (01/09 to 01/11)
The use of sensors and instrumentation for monitoring civil engineering infrastructure has been of paramount importance since ancient times. The specific goals of the proposed project are to: a) Identify the sensors most relevant to earth structures and foundations and categorize the extent of instrumentation necessary to provide quality data for monitoring, diagnostics, and prognostic Analyses; b) Identify structures and building foundations on campus that are most suitable for instrumentation and install a comprehensive network of automated sensors; c) Develop undergraduate hands-on educational modules, emphasizing sensor operation; experimental data collection, processing and visualization; and statistical analysis.
Effect of Gradation on Predicted Performance of Aggregate Base Course
T.M. Evans and A.A. Tayebali;
NC Department of Transportation (01/08 to 06/09)
The primary objectives of this research are to evaluate the effect of aggregate gradation on the mechanical properties of the ABC materials; and to develop numerical model(s) based on the discrete element method (DEM) to predict mechanical properties with changes in gradation. The DEM models will also provide insight into the underlying micromechanics that may contribute to variations in material performance as a function of ABC gradation. It is anticipated that this research study will result in performance-related criteria that can be incorporated into the NCDOT Standard Specifications that are used for acceptance of ABC material for pavement structure.
Load Combination Method and Analytical Methodology for IRWST and Other Dynamic Loads in Piping Analysis
A. Gupta;
Korea Power Electric Company, KOPES, South Korea (2008)
This project is aimed at providing technical knowledge on state-of-the-practice for combining various dynamic loads such as those due to Earthquake, Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA), and Safety Relief Valves (SRV) in a nuclear power plant piping system analysis. This work has different aspects that relate to: (a) Providing background information on the currently specified load combination procedures in USNRC recommended and ASME recommended guidelines, (b) Theoretical basis for various recommendations, and (c) Train KOPEC engineers on incorporating appropriate load combination methods in an actual piping analysis and assist them with interpreting the results.
Development of a Seismic Fragility Methodology for Nuclear Power Plant Structures
Marty McCann Jr. (
Stanford University); A. Gupta (NCSU) and Jack Baker (Stanford University)
Kajima Corporation of Japan through CUREE/Kajima Partnership (2009-2011)
The purpose of this study is to develop and implement a generalized seismic fragility methodology for structural components and systems. The study will develop an approach that provides a closer integration of the characterization of earthquake ground motions and the performance of critical facilities. This research is aimed at developing an approach that takes advantage of Kajima structural analysis capabilities and integrates an improved characterization of earthquake ground motions with a detailed reliability analysis of structure performance. The work is being conducted jointly by a multi-institutional team of researchers from NC State University, Stanford University, and Kajima Corporation of Japan.
NEESR-GC: Simulation of the Seismic Performance of Nonstructural Systems
A. Gupta and M. Margakis (University of Nevada, Reno); other participating institutions: SUNY-Buffalo, UC-San Diego, Cornell, GA-Tech, NC A&T, and UNC-Chapel Hill;
Project Managed by CUREE; NCSU Graduate School via AGEP program-NSF (2007-2012)
Overall objective is to study the seismic performance of non-structural ceiling systems in buildings such as fire suppression piping, suspended ceiling fixtures, HVAC ducts, and partitions. NCSU’s work is focused on computer modeling, optimization, and fragility evaluations for designing piping configuration needed to conduct experiments, Subtasks of this study focus on verification of theoretical formulations for seismic analysis of coupled building-piping systems as well as development of new formulations for improved verification with respect to the experimental results obtained by other participating organizations.
Engineering to Enhance the Resilience of the Built and Natural Environments
R. Leuttich (UNC-CH), M. Overton, G.F. List, R. Seracino, M. Gabr, R. Ranjithan, D. Brill, and J. Baugh (NCSU);
Department of Homeland Security, Center of Excellence (08/08 to 07/14)
The objective is to investigate innovative and proactive approaches to plan, design and construct CCI components to provide services needed to increase disaster preparedness and resilience of the integrated CCI system, as well as to protect the natural environment. To achieve this goal, five highly interrelated research projects are being proposed. Each project has a project leader and anticipated partners; however, the projects are proposed as complementary pieces contributing products to be used to meet the overarching objective to enhance the resilience of the built and natural environment, a single objective. As such, project leaders will work together to coordinate efforts, align case studies, transfer outcomes, develop scenarios, etc. toward a highly integrated product.
Application of Municipal Solid Waste Decision Support Tool to Wake County, North Carolina
M.A. Barlaz and S.R. Ranjithan;
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (12/04 to 08/09)
The objective of this project is to develop alternatives for the management of municipal solid waste for Wake County, NC. Alternatives will be developed to examine tradeoffs among cost, environmental burdens, resource consumption and landfill diversion using a solid waste management life-cycle inventory model developed by the investigators.
Assessment of Environmental Emissions associated with the Beneficial Reuse of Industrial, Commercial and Agricultural Wastes
M. A. Barlaz and S. Ranjithan;
Delaware Solid Waste Authority (06/06 to 08/08)
The objective of this research is to estimate the environmental benefits of the recycling and reuse of commercial, industrial and agricultural wastes generated in the State of Delaware.
Calibration of Rutting Models for HMA Structural and Mix Design
R. Kim and M.N. Guddati;
NCHRP 9-30A, Subcontract from Applied Research Associates, Inc. (11/05 to 10/08)
The objective of this research effort is to recommend revisions to the HMA rut depth prediction model in the mechanistic-empirical pavement design guide and software developed in NCHRP Project 1-37A for consideration by the NCHRP Project 1-40 panel and the AASHTO Joint Task Force on Pavements. The recommended revisions will be based on the calibration and validation of distress models with measured materials properties and performance data from existing field and other full-scale pavement sections that incorporate modified as well as unmodified asphalt binders.
Top-Down Fatigue Cracking of Hot-Mix Asphalt Layers
Y.R. Kimand M.N. Guddati;
NCHRP 1-42A, Subcontract from University of Florida (06/06 to 05/09)
In this research, the viscoelastic continuum damage model implemented in the finite element program (VECD-FEP++) will be used to investigate the top-down fatigue cracking mechanism in hot-mix asphalt pavements. The VECD model and the dynamic modulus from the IDT test will serve as the primary experimental tools. The resulting VECD-FEP++ will be used to simulate the behavior of asphalt pavements with varying loading, environmental, and pavement factors. The results from the simulation will be investigated to develop mechanistic procedures to evaluate the top-down cracking propensity of asphalt pavement as a function of various factors and to predict the top-down cracking performance of asphalt pavement.
High-end Computing in Environmental Engineering with Application to Subsurface Characterization
G. Mahinthakumar;
National Science Foundation - Career; (07/03 to 06/09)
Accurate characterization of the subsurface is important in development of reliable and efficient groundwater management practices. Accurate and reliable estimation of hydraulic conductivity distribution, contaminant distribution, and/or contaminant source release history is necessary for problems such as estimating groundwater yields, design of efficient cleanup strategies, and identifying responsible parties in a contamination incident. This requires solution of an inverse problem because direct measurement of detailed subsurface properties is not feasible. Inverse problems are difficult to solve and are computationally demanding. This multidisciplinary NSF Career project will investigate novel computational strategies for efficient solution of large-scale inverse problems in subsurface characterization.
ITR: A Prototype to Support Near Real-Time Environmental Characterization
G. Mahinthakumar, R. Ranjithan, and Nick Karonis (Northern Illinois University);
National Science Foundation (09/03 to 08/07)
The overall goal of this project is to investigate formal computational approaches that can readily harness grid computing for the efficient solution of environmental characterization problems. To this end, we will develop a grid-enabled software framework. Two alternative paradigms, one based on the grid-enabled version of MPI (Message Passing Interface), and the other based on Java will be explored. The framework will be applied to groundwater and surface water problems, both of which are of prime societal importance.
DDDAS-TMRP (Collaborative Research): An Adaptive Cyberinfrastructure for Threat Management in Urban Water Distribution Systems
G. Mahinthakumar, E.D. Brill, R. Ranjithan (Co-PI's, NCSU), J. Uber (Univ. of Cincinnati); Gregor Von Laszewski (Univ. of Chicago); and K. Harrison, (Univ. of South Carolina);
National Science Foundation (Dynamic Data Driven Application Systems Program) (01/06 to 12/09)
The goal of this multidisciplinary research is to develop a cyberinfrastructure system for water distribution system threat management that will both adapt to and control changing needs in data, models, computer resources and management choices facilitated by a dynamic workflow design. Using virtual simulation and a field study, this cyberinfrastructure will be tested on illustrative scenarios for adaptive management of contamination events in water distribution systems.
Development of a Design Tool for Planning Aqueous Amendment Injection Systems
R.C. Borden, G. Mahinthakumar, T.J. Simpkin (CH2M HILL) and C. Zawtocki (Solutions-IES);
DOE, Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (03/06 to 12/10)
The objective of this project is to develop a set of tools to assist design engineers in developing effective, reasonably efficient systems for distributing aqueous amendments for in situ treatment of groundwater contaminants. At this time, the primary applications for the tools will be for design of in situ chemical oxidation systems using permanganate and in situ anaerobic bioremediation systems using soluble substrates and emulsified oil. However, as technology evolves, this general approach should be applicable to distribution of other aqueous amendments.
PERI: Performance Engineering Research Institute: Application Engagement
G. Mahinthakumar;
UT Battelle LLC (04/07 to 06/11; renewed annually)
This project is part of a larger scale effort funded by DOE through the SciDAC (Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing) program. The overall goal of the project is to develop and maintain an enabling technology center in the area of high-end computer performance called performance engineering research institute (PERI). NCSU component of this project will focus on performance analysis, performance modeling, and performance optimization of SciDAC groundwater application codes.
Modeling the Impact and Blast Performance of Fiber Reinforced Concrete
V.C. Matzen and Abhinav Gupta;
Idaho National Laboratory (2006 to 2009)
This study is aimed at providing an experiment-based application for the blast/impact software investigation to be carried out at INL. Active research collaboration between INL and the Center for Nuclear Power Plant Structures, Equipment and Piping at NCSU is proposed. The collaboration will provide NCSU personnel an access to the advanced finite element software available at INL to model the structural performance of FRC. Simple experiments on FRC structural members will be conducted at NCSU for reconciliation of analytical and experimental results. The purpose would be to help in the development of new FRC material to withstand impact and blast loads.
Procedures for Multi Hazard Risk Assessment in Civil Infrastructure Systems
R. Ranjithan, D. Brill, J. Baugh, Mo Gabr, M. Overton, and R. Seracino (05/08 to 12/10)
The pilot project will develop an outline of a multihazard risk assessment methodology associated with floods and levees. It will also identify model requirements and data needs. This work will serve as a prototype for future work to develop a more comprehensive methodology for considering a broader range of natural hazards and civil infrastructure.
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