Master of Science / Department of Civil Engineering / Dunja Peric / Integral Abutment Bridges (IABs) are Jointless Bridges whereby the deck is continuous and monolithic with abutment walls. IABs are outperforming their non-integral counterparts in economy and safety. Their principal advantages are derived from the absence of expansion joints and sliding bearings in the deck, making them the most cost-effective system in terms of construction, maintenance, and longevity. The main purpose of constructing IABs is to prevent the corrosion of structure due to water seepage through joints. The simple and rapid construction provides smooth, uninterrupted deck that is aesthetically pleasing and safer for riding. The single structural unit increases the degree of redundancy enabling higher resistance to extreme events. However, the design of IABs not being an exact science poses certain critical issues. The continuity achieved by this construction results in thermally induced deformations. These in turn introduce a significantly complex and nonlinear soil-structure interaction into the response of abutment walls and piles of the IAB. The unknown soil response and its effect on the stresses in the bridge, creates uncertainties in the design. To gain a better understanding of the mechanism of load transfer due to thermal expansion, which is also dependent on the type of the soil adjacent to the abutment walls and piles, a 3D finite element analysis is carried out on a representative IAB using state-of-the-art finite element code ABAQUS/Standard 6.5-1. A literature review focusing on past numerical models of IABs is presented followed by details of the numerical model developed in this study using the interactive environment ABAQUS/CAE 6.5-1 along with the analysis details. A discussion of results for the analysis of the IAB with three different soil conditions and each experiencing three different temperature change scenarios is presented. Conclusions of the study and recommendations for future research wrap up the thesis. The advancement of knowledge enabled by this research will provide a basis for introduction of new guidelines in Kansas Bridge Design Manual.

Master of Science / Department of Civil Engineering / David R. Steward / Konza Prairie is one of the few areas in the United States were natural landscape of the area is still intact. Human action on changing the landscapes in this area is limited and much of the land remains as native grassland. In spite of its natural existence, this area is not completely isolated from the rest of the world. Changes that are taking place in climate will eventually have the same effect to this region as well as other human populated areas. Increase in carbon concentration in the air has resulted to increase in temperature, this increase in temperature increases the evaporation from the sea, oceans and the ice capes. As the atmospheric water vapor changes the precipitation pattern also change. Changes in precipitation due to climate change will result to change in hydrology and hydraulics of the streams and groundwater flow regime. Precipitation provides surface runoff and groundwater infiltration, which recharge the cracked limestone aquifer present in the Konza area. The infiltration water moves trough the cracked rocks and eventually reach the creeks such as Kings Creek and flow to the Kansas River. Increase in precipitation will result to increase in surface runoffs and more groundwater recharge. Decrease in precipitation will result to decrease in both surface and groundwater. To examine changes in groundwater elevation as recharge change in Konza, a groundwater model was developed based on erosion impact calculator (EPIC) ecological model and SLIT groundwater model. EPIC model estimates the deep percolation (recharge) as 12% and total runoff to about 24% of the annual average precipitation. The annual average recharge values from EPIC were used in SPLIT to simulate results for the groundwater elevation at Konza prairie. Field wells elevation were use to calibrate the SPLIT results. By estimating the hydraulic permeability value to 0.546m/d the field well measurements and SPLIT simulated groundwater elevation results provide a good match. After calibration max and min recharge together with a 5-years moving average were used to examine the changes in groundwater elevation as recharge changes. Future study intends to use the calibrated Konza groundwater model and the forecasted climate data to simulate result for groundwater elevation as climate changes.

Master of Science / Department of Civil Engineering / Yacoub M. Najjar / Asset Management is a relatively new term in the transportation world. It involves a systematic approach to maintaining, upgrading and operating all transportation assets (including infrastructure) cost-effectively. With the Government Accounting Standards Board's Statement 34 (GASB 34) requiring all transportation entities to report all capital assets on their annual reports as well as the development of new software and technologies, Asset Management is becoming easier to implement and quickly becoming an important part of the transportation industry. In Kansas the Department of Transportation has developed and successfully utilized an Asset Management system for all assets including bridges, roadways, drainage structures and signs. Kansas counties however, do not have the funds and personnel to implement and maintain an Asset Management system similar to that of the KDOT. Asset Management systems have only been developed by counties with large populations, but even they have not reached the full potential of the system. This thesis discusses the importance of creating and maintaining an effective Asset Management system. Kansas counties were surveyed and asked a series of questions about their asset management systems, or lack thereof, as well as the successes and failures of these systems. The counties were asked how they prioritize maintenance, what software they are using, and what assets they have inventoried. The results of the questionnaire showed that counties with large populations have shown interest in implementing Asset Management systems and many have worked to implement such a system. Conversely, counties with small populations that do not have the resources have not implemented Asset Management systems. Recommendations for implementing appropriate Asset Management systems are made to counties in the three population ranges: i) less than 5,000, ii) between 5,000 and 50,000, and iii) greater than 50,000. These include software recommendations and creating inventories of all county assets including culverts, signs and pavements.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Civil Engineering / Asadollah Esmaeily / Over the past 30 years, FRP composites (carbon, glass, or aramid fibers) have arisen as a method of retrofitting existing reinforced concrete structures to bring them up to current code standards of confinement and ductility. The development of stress-strain models for FRP confined concrete began with the adaptation of steel confinement models then progressed to models specifically developed based on test results from FRP confined specimens. State of the art stress-strain models for FRP confined concrete models may now be validated against a wide variety of published experimental results. Recent publications show researchers branching out and looking at other aspects of FRP confined concrete behavior, including the impact of sustained service loads on long term and ultimate behavior. An experimental program which examines the effects of sustained service loading on the ultimate axial performance of FRP confined concrete is presented. The program's purpose is to determine whether or not a material model developed without the presence of a sustained load accurately predicts the ultimate stress-strain response of FRP confined concrete previously subjected to a sustained service load. Equipment and procedures were developed to model the critical events in a building life cycle: construction, sustained service loading, minor critical events, rehabilitation, and ultimate performance. Varying the order of these events produces a simulated life cycle allowing analysis of the impact of strain history on ultimate performance. The results of the experimental program indicate that the presence of a sustained service load changes the expected failure mode from FRP rupture to FRP de-lamination and the stress-strain response of a specimen is approximately 10% below published models when sustained service loads are included in the life cycle. A comprehensive modeling process is proposed for modeling significant events in a structure's life cycle. Impacts on earthquake engineering and reliability studies are addressed and future research suggested. This research shows that life cycle modeling can improve the design and rehabilitation of structures so that they meet safety requirements in future seismic events.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Civil Engineering / Alok Bhandari / Human activities generate large amounts of chlorinated phenolic chemicals that are often introduced into the soil environment during pesticide and insecticide application, industrial releases, and accidental spills. For example, 2,4-dichlorophenol (DCP), a derivative of the herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) can been found in soil within 24 hours of 2,4- D application. Horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-mediated polymerization has been proposed as an approach to remediate soils and groundwater contaminated by phenolic pollutants. Treatment with HRP results in the transformation of phenols into polyphenolic oligomers that sorb strongly or precipitate on soils surfaces. Although HRP-mediated chlorophenol stabilization has been studied extensively in surface soils, very limited scientific data is available that supports the application of this technology in subsurface materials. Hence, the focus of this study was to evaluate sorption and binding of DCP and products of HRP-mediated polymerization of DCP to model geosorbents representing subsurface geomaterials. These sorbents included two humin-mineral geomaterials and one mineral geosorbent derived from surface soils. Soil-water phase distribution of total solute in the HRP-amended systems was observed to reach equilibrium within 7 days in woodland humin-mineral soil (WHM), and within 1 day in agricultural humin-mineral (AHM) and model mineral geomaterials. For all the geomaterials used, water extraction data indicated the development of contact time-dependent resistance to extraction/dissolution of soil-associated DCP and DPP. Solute associated with WHM geomaterial was higher at the end of the study than that associated with AHM. Contact time increased DCP stabilization at all initial aqueous DCP concentrations studied. Results of this study suggest that DCP stabilization in organic geosorbents results from a combination of sorption and cross-coupling of DCP and precipitation of DPP; in inorganic soils, precipitation of DPP macromolecules is the dominant process. HRP-mediated stabilization of DCP in soils was effective and independent of the solution ionic concentration. The amount of DCP stabilized in the mineral soil was comparable to that stabilized in humin-mineral geomaterials. The research reported in this dissertation demosntrates the potential of HRP enzyme to stabilize DCP in subsurface geomaterials under variable contaminant and salt concentrations, thereby restricting its transport in the environment.

Master of Science / Department of Architectural Engineering and Construction Science / Kimberly W. Kramer / Building Information Modeling (BIM) is altering the way that the construction industry is developing design documents by involving all members of the design team as well as the general contractor early in the design process. The members are encouraged to offer advice on the design and constructability on the project. However, not only is the design process changing, but the liability and responsibility of each team member is changing as well. The alteration in responsibility can severely impact structural engineers because of the level of responsibility already associated with their role in the design process. This report looks at the concerns industry leaders and legal professionals have with how BIM is altering the liability landscape, such as standard contracts, software interoperability, data misuse, intellectual property, loss of data, the legal status of the model, the standard of care, and design delegation. In addition to the liability concerns, this report examines the steps that industry leaders have taken to prevent any unnecessary additional liability from affecting structural engineers.

Master of Science / Department of Civil Engineering / Asadollah Esmaeily / The shear and combined shear and torsion provisions of the AASHTO LRFD (2008) Bridge Design Specifications, as well as simplified AASHTO procedure for prestressed and non-prestressed reinforced concrete members were investigated and compared to their equivalent ACI 318-08 provisions. Response-2000, an analytical tool developed based on the Modified Compression Field Theory (MCFT), was first validated against the existing experimental data and then used to generate the required data for cases where no experimental data was available. Several normal and prestressed beams, either simply supported or continuous were used to evaluate the AASHTO and ACI shear design provisions In addition, the AASHTO LRFD provisions for combined shear and torsion were investigated and their accuracy was validated against the available experimental data. These provisions were also compared to their equivalent ACI code requirements. The latest design procedures in both codes propose exact shear-torsion interaction equations that can directly be compared to the experimental results by considering all ϕ factors as one. In this comprehensive study, different over-reinforced, moderately-reinforced, and under-reinforced sections with high-strength and normal-strength concrete for both solid and hollow sections were analyzed. The main objectives of this study were to: • Evaluate the shear and the shear-torsion procedures proposed by AASHTO LRFD (2008) and ACI 318-08 • Validate the code procedures against the experimental results by mapping the experimental points on the code-based exact interaction diagrams • Develop a MathCAD program as a design tool for sections subjected to shear or combined shear and torsion

Master of Science / Department of Civil Engineering / Robert J. Peterman / With limited research being conducted solely on lightweight concrete prestressed bond and current development-length equations based on tests performed on normal-weight members, more investigation on lightweight concrete prestress bond is necessary. Additionally, the effects of water-reducing agents on normal-weight and lightweight concrete need further exploration. The aim of this study was to examine these areas using two locally available lightweight aggregates from Kansas and one from North Carolina to determine if lightweight prestressed concrete bridge girders are a useful alternative for the Kansas Department of Transportation. The lightweight concrete mixes developed were capable of attaining 5000 psi compressive strength in 16 hours and 7000 psi in 28 days. During the large block pull-out test, the average maximum force at pull-out and first observable slip was higher for the block cast with a three inch slump then the companion specimen poured at a nine-inch slump. During flexural testing, the two beams not reaching nominal moment capacity, KC-9 and STA-9, failed in compression without strand end slip. The moment capacity was considerably greater for three-inch slump members than the companion specimen placed with nine-inch slump concrete.

Master of Science / Department of Civil Engineering / David R. Steward / The Ogallala Aquifer is a supply of water for several municipalities in western Kansas, as well as an irrigation source for local farmers. Since the 1950’s, when the aquifer started to be pumped for irrigation, the region has seen steady declines of the groundwater table. These declines have reduced stream flow in the Arkansas and Cimarrron Rivers, and caused a redistribution of riparian phreatophytes. This thesis studies this redistribution of phreatophytes, and develops statistical relationships relating a phreatophyte’s location to depth to groundwater, increase in depth to groundwater, distance from a stream or river, and hydrologic soil group. Remote sensing was used to determine tree locations on predevelopment and post-development aerial photography. These locations were mapped using ArcGIS, and ArcAEM was used to model groundwater flow in six riparian regions taking root uptake into account. It was found that once the depth to groundwater becomes greater than about 3 m, tree population will decrease as depth to water increases. Trees were located within 700 m of the river. Areas with a dense tree population (>10% tree cover) occurred where the average depth to water ranged from 0.24-1.4 m. Areas with moderate tree density (5-10% tree cover) corresponded to an average depth to water ranging from 2.1-19 m. Areas with a low tree density (<5% tree cover) corresponded to an average depth to water ranging from 11-28 m. It was found that phreatophytes have a high likelihood of growing on hydrologic soil group A and a low likelihood of growing on hydrologic soil group B. The number of trees located on hydrologic soil group D was what would be statistically expected if tree location were independent of soil type. It was also found that tree locations could be used as an indicator of good hydraulic connectivity between surface water and groundwater. This information can be used to help guide future installation of monitoring networks and expand research projects from central Kansas to western Kansas.

Master of Science / Department of Architectural Engineering and Construction Science / Kimberly W. Kramer / The basic tenets of performance based seismic design (PBSD) are introduced. This includes a description of the underlying philosophy of PBSD, the concept of performance objectives, and a description of hazard levels and performance indicators. After establishing the basis of PBSD, analysis procedures that fit well within the PBSD framework are introduced. These procedures are divided into four basic categories: linear static, linear dynamic, nonlinear static, and nonlinear static. Baseline FEMA requirements are introduced for each category. Each analysis category is then expanded to include a detailed description of and variations on the basic procedure. Finally, optimization procedures that mesh well with a PBSD framework are introduced and described. The optimization discussion focuses first on the solution tools needed to effectively execute a PBSD multi-objective optimization procedure, namely genetic and evolutionary strategies algorithms. Next, multiple options for defining objective functions and constraints are presented to illustrate the versatility of structural optimization. Taken together, this report illustrates the unique aspects of PBSD. As PBSD moves to the forefront of design methodology, the subjects discussed serve to familiarize engineers with the advantages, possibilities, and finer workings of this powerful new design methodology.