Department of Civil Engineering

September 2011

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CE Faculty 2010-11

Civil Engineering Research

Year CE + HRC + NCAT

FY 10 $7,450,000

FY 09 $15,099,000

FY 08 $8,800,000

FY 07 $12,891,000

Research Awards

Civil Engineering Specialties

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Hassan H. Abbas • Specialty

• Structural Engineering

• Teaching Interests • Bridge Engineering

• Fatigue and Fracture

• Steel Structures

• Structural Analysis

• Structural Dynamics

• Research Areas • Infrastructure durability

• Structural redundancy

• Research Topics • Bridge rating

• Innovative structural systems

• Progressive collapse

• Rapid replacement of bridge decks

Murrah Building Collapse

Bridge Deterioration

J. Brian Anderson, Ph.D., P.E. • Focus Areas

– Geo-Structural Engineering • Foundations, Earth Retaining Structures • Analysis, Design, Performance, and Evaluation

– Soil Behavior - Engineering Properties - Site Characterization • Piedmont Residual Soils • Scour Geotechnics • Unsaturated Soil Mechanics

– Constructed Facilities • Sensors, Data Acquisition • Performance and Forensic Investigation

• Projects – Evaluation of Scour Potential of Cohesive Soils (ALDOT) – Update of Bridge Design Standards for AASHTO LRFD Seismic Design

Requirements (ALDOT) – Foley Arch Bottomless Precast Bridge Validation: Testing, Analysis and Design

(Foley Products) – Energy Calibration for Standard Penetration Testing (HRC) – Evaluation of Causes of Pavement Distress in US331 in Montgomery County

(HRC)

Mark O. Barnett, Ph.D., P.E. Malcolm Pirnie Professor

Water quality engineering and environmental remediation. Development, analysis, and implementation of sustainable

energy, resource, and environmental policy. Contracts and Grants: 15+ total, ~$8 million DOE, DoD, EPA, NSF, AWWARF $980 K DOE grant to study Pu and Np mobility,

multidisciplinary partners: Yale, Notre Dame, LBNL 40+ refereed journal articles, 750+ citations, 70+

presentations, 4 book chapters, book, patent Administrative Judge, U. S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission

Robert W. Barnes, Ph.D., P.E. Associate Professor Research Areas Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP)

repair/strengthening of concrete structures

Self-consolidating concrete (SCC) for prestressed applications

0

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0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5Displacement (in.)

Appl

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Load

(kip

s)

Cease TestingCrack Width = 4-8 mm

Field sampling of oil spill in Gulf Coast June 12th 2010 sampling

Prahbakar Clement, Ph.D.

Field samples (tar balls and floating mousse)

Triple Quadrupole GC/MS (NSF-funded facility for analyzing asphalts/ petroleum contaminants

PROTECTIVE STRUCTURES / BLAST MITIGATION

GOALS: To develop construction technologies that involve advanced materials to reduce injuries to building occupants during an explosion event.

• 14 years working with AFRL Engineering Mechanics and Explosives Effects Research Group

• Current/recent projects sponsored by AFRL, USA/ERDC, PCI, NCMA, NSF

• Students focus on modeling/simulation; testing done with government laboratories

• Focus of current projects: blast response of multi-wythe masonry, PC/PS foam insulated sandwich panels, and blast design/response of buried drainage structures.

TRANSPORTATION STRUCTURES

(1) STABILITY OF STEEL BRIDGES DURING CONSTRUCTION GOALS: To conduct stability research that leads to improvements in design methodology, fabrication, and erection practice for the design and construction of steel bridges, with focus on curvature effects.

(2) LOCAL ROADS RESEARCH GOALS: To develop advanced technologies to address issues confronted by local government engineers and provide a platform for outreach and dissemination. Current projects on thermoplastic pipes for cross-drain applications, crack causation in CIP concrete culverts, and stability of timber pile bridges.

Jim Davidson 334-844-8777

Jim.Davidson@auburn.edu

Algorithms for Multi-Objective Optimization for Construction Site Layout Abhijeet Deshpande

• Despite of a significant body of research proving the impact of site layout planning on worker productivity,

safety and process efficiency, it is done on an ad-hoc basis in large capital projects.

• Layout is a N-P hard combinatorial problem making it computationally difficult to find the true optimum

solution.

• The objective of this research is to create a multi-objective optimization algorithm

• Algorithms Proposed: Probabilistic TABU Search, Relaxed Flexible Bays, Artificial Immune Systems

(CLONAGL), Hybrid Swarm Algorithms INPUT

Site Geometry Building Footprint Communication Costs Project Schedule

CONSTRAINTS Safety Crane Requirements Un-usable Areas

Initial Set of Layouts

Crossover

Mutation

New Layouts

Optimization Conditions

Met? Final Layout

Yes

Fitness Evaluation

Function Evaluation

No

1. Soil liquefaction mitigation (with Chem. Eng.; NSF) 2. Improving effectiveness of the undergraduate soils lab

experience (with Cal Poly; NSF) 3. Pavement failure evaluation (Alabama Highway Research

Center) 4. Soil property evaluation using a new capacitor (with Elect.

Engg) 5. Bubble point testing of geotextiles

David J. Elton, Ph.D., P.E. Geotechnical Engineering (ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF SOIL)

Xing Fang, Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE, Associate Professor

Hydraulic/hydrologic analysis/modeling • Assessing performance characteristics of sediment

basins at a construction site • Elevation of scour potential of cohesive soils at

highway bridge crossing sites. • Hydrological methods at low-slope watersheds • Elevation of rational and modified rational methods

for highway drainage design • Three-dimensional flow and thermal discharge

modeling in river systems with tidal effects • Modeling of urban flooding and flood risk analysis

Hydrodynamics and water quality modeling •Regional year-round water temperature, dissolved

oxygen, snow/ice cover modeling in lakes •Nutrient transport and water quality monitoring

and modeling in estuaries (Sabine Lake bayous in Texas and Perdido-Wolf Bay in Alabama)

•Effects of global climate warming on water quality and fish habitats in lakes and reservoirs.

Jeffrey LaMondia • Transportation Planning Travel Demand & Behavior Modeling

Tourism Travel Suitability Analysis Along Old Federal Road w/ Alabama Cooperative Road Extension System

Long Distance Passenger Travel Demand Modeling Framework w/ Federal Highway Administration

Daily Leisure Activities Scheduling Behavior Study

System Accessibility Modeling Alternative Transportation Systems in National Parks

w/ Federal Transit Administration

Curb Management Strategies to Minimize Freight/ Cyclist Conflicts w/ Center for Transportation and Livable Systems

Dr. Clifford R. Lange

Wastewater Treatment * Enzymatic removal of phenolics from petroleum

refinery wastewater * Decolorization of pulp and paper mill wastewater * Biogenic Methane formation

Environmental Microbiology * Algae * Sulfur cycling bacteria * Petroleum Bioremediation

Odors and Emissions * Hot Mix Asphalt * Industrial wastewater treatment plants

Justin D. Marshall, P.E., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

• Seismic Design and Analysis of Bridges in Alabama Sponsor: Highway Research Center & ALDOT • Parameter and System Development of Multi-Phase

Seismic Protection Systems • Innovative Gap Damper to Control Seismic Isolator

Displacements in Extreme Earthquakes Sponsor: National Science Foundation • Post-Earthquake Reconnaissance • Experimental and Analytical Validation of Foley

Arch 3-Sided Precast Arch Bridge Sponsor: Foley Products Company • Accelerated Bridge Construction/ Rapidly

Constructed Short Span Bridges and Culverts

Ahjeong Son, Ph.D. – Environmental Assistant Professor

Nanobiotechnolgy – Development of DNA biosensor (NSF CAREER, USGS)

Bioremediation and oil-spill impact on microbial communities in Gulf Shore (MESC, BP)

Nanoparticles Magnetic beads

Bacteria

DNA

Marsh sampling

Anton K. Schindler, Ph.D., P.E. Director of the Highway Research Center & Associate Professor

2. Concrete durability Cracking of mass concrete structures Mitigation of bridge deck distresses Mitigation of alkali-silica reaction

3. Use of alternative fuels to produce portland cement On-going $ 4.1 million DOE project (with ME, CHEN, and Agronomy and Soils)

4. Advanced materials characterization Computer-based modeling of concrete behavior

1. Self-consolidating concrete Prestressed concrete applications (with Dr.

Barnes) Drilled shaft applications

• Full-Scale Accelerated Pavement Testing – Improve/refine pavement performance models – Develop new pavement design methodologies

• Full Scale Experiments – NCAT Test Track (middle of 3rd experiment)

• Recent study thinned ALDOT pavements by 18% • $50 million/year DOT Savings

– Binzhou Perpetual Pavement Project • Developed new design procedure • 620 miles of new pavement constructed in last few years

– Oklahoma I-35 Project • Implement new mechanistic design procedure in OK

Examples of Current Research: Development of Alabama Traffic Factors for Use in M-E Pavement

Design, ALDOT, co-PI: Timm Analysis of Traffic Impacts for Rapid Bridge Deck Replacement

Projects, ALDOT, co-PI: Zech A Preliminary Analysis of the Cost-Effectiveness and Performance

Impacts of Changes in Pavement Marking Specifications in Alabama, AUHRC

Rod E. Turochy, Ph.D., P.E. Associate Professor, Transportation Engineering

Teaching interests: 5 different classes in the transportation engineering area

Research interests: Traffic engineering, highway safety, bicycle and pedestrian

facilities, traffic data for pavement design, engineering education

JOSE G. VASCONCELOS, PH.D.

Dynamics of air pocket compression and expansion in deep stormwater storage tunnels Development of numerical models to simulate

extreme rain events and experimental investigations

Filling of water mains and issues associated with air phase compression Development of an state-of-the-art computational

model to be applied in the simulation of extreme flow conditions in water infrastructure

Computational and Experimental Hydraulics

• Physical model investigation on the mixing of oil-dispersed substances in Mobile Bay navigation canal (MESC-GRI grant)

• Study of the gravity current & mixing between shallow bay and deeper shipping canal

• Impacts of highway culvert in the migration of

fish species in natural streams • Integration of modeling tools to facilitate the

assessment of culvert impacts to fisheries

Wesley C. Zech, Ph.D. – Construction Gottlieb Associate Professor

Erosion & Sediment Control Research - ALDOT Development of test facility to

evaluate ESC practices used in construction

Large-scale and intermediate-scale testing

Currently evaluating the performance of ditch checks used in channelized flow

Auburn University Traffic and Parking Study – FTA Investigating alternative modes

of transportation (pedestrian movements, bicycling, etc.)

Transit studies Traffic Calming Studies Development of campus GIS

Environmental Nanotechnology Group: Don Zhao

Develop and characterize nanomaterials and nanotechnologies for environmental cleanup Evaluate environmental impacts of nanomaterials Developed seven-patented or patent pending technologies for site remediation, and water treatment Recognized by peers as one of the “pioneering group”

Starch-Stabilized Non-Stabilized

(0.1g/L Fe)

Zero-valent iron for destruction of chlorinated solvents (three field tests completed)

Magnetite nanoparticles for As removal

FeS nanoparticles for mercury immobilization

Highway Research Center (HRC) Anton K. Schindler, HRC Director

Activities: Research: Various projects ≈ $2.2 Million awarded in FY10

Traffic/safety, bridges, foundations, hydraulics/hydrology, pavements, materials (other than asphalt), environmental issues, construction management, etc.

Teaching: ≈ 30 graduate students & 10 undergrads active on projects Outreach:

Many HRC projects result in industry workshops HRC assist to develop the technical program for the annual

Alabama Transportation Conference (attendance ≈ 600 to 850)

Mission: Support Alabama’s highway industry

through a coordinated research program Partner with ALDOT, regional and

national research programs (NCHRP, FHWA), county and municipal agencies, material suppliers, and contractors

H C

CIVIL ENGINEERING

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at Auburn University

• NCAT focuses on making roads safer, smoother, quieter, and longer-lasting.

• 35 FTE including 8 PhD lead researchers and 7 assistant research engineers.

• Facilities include 40,000 ft2 lab & office building and 1.7 mile pavement test track.

• About $5 million in research and training each year. 50% of research is related to the Test Track. Research sponsors include state and federal transportation agencies, and private industry.

The National Center for Asphalt Technology

1983 -2010 • Funded by FHWA, FTA and ALDOT ($470,000 in 2010)

• Administered by Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Continuing Education

• Serves local and state officials

• Conducts management and technical seminars 255 seminar topics 950 locations 36,863 participants

• Publishes Alabama Transportation Newsletter four times per year

• Maintains publications and video libraries