Detailed
List of Collaborative Projects for Summer 2008
Infrastructure Design and Management
Students will gain research skills in a variety
of topics related to sustainable infrastructure.
Current projects focus on three main areas: 1) earthquake-resistant
structural designs in the developing regions by
creating simple and cost-effective measures to improve
building techniques, 2) investigating material properties,
testing methods, interactions with other construction
materials, analysis and design protocols, and applications
of geosynthetics to infrastructure and environmental
systems, and 3) investigating low-cost technologies
for the treatment of surface and groundwater for
both developed and developing regions. (Drs. Cerato,
Hatami, Kang,
Kolar, Miller,
Mish,
Muraleetharan, Pei,
Ramseyer, Sabatini,
Strevett)
Hazard Mitigation
Designing effective mitigation strategies for natural
and man-made hazards requires a thorough understanding
of the underlying processes and the inclusion of
them in sophisticated models. Current projects focus
on two main areas: 1) surface water modeling, as
applied to flood forecasting (inland and coastal)
and 2) creation of a disaster resilient society
that benefits from critical information and advanced
detection of natural hazards, e.g., flooding and
drought. (Drs. Hatami, Hong,
Kolar, Mish,
Muraleetharan, Vieux)
Environmental Restoration and Ecological Engineering
We are working on several novel remediation and
restoration technologies that focus on the development
of environmentally sustainable processes. Many are
based on passive waste treatment mechanisms or the
incorporation of recycled waste products into construction
materials or for use as treatment media. Current
projects focus on three main areas: 1) developing
passive treatment systems (e.g., ecologically engineered
treatment wetlands) to improve water quality, 2)
incorporating recycled materials finished products
and 3). developing environmentally friendly products
and processes by replacing organic solvents with
surfactant-based aqueous systems. (Drs. Butler,
Kibbey, Miller,
Nairn, Nanny,
Sabatini, Strevett,
Zaman)
Detailed
List of Individual Faculty Projects for Summer 2008
Dr.
Elizabeth Butler
Abiotic Reductive Dechlorination. Students will
work on a project related to abiotic reductive dechlorination
of chlorinated aliphatic compounds. One possible
project involves measuring the rates and products
of degradation of carbon tetrachloride by iron metal
under a variety of experimental conditions. The
goal of these experiments is to identify the conditions
under which carbon tetrachloride and related pollutants
are transformed to harmless products by iron metal
Dr.
Amy Cerato
Shallow and Deep Foundations on Expansive Soils:
The student will be involved with a number of field
and lab based testing of road base, building and
bridge foundations on expansive soils throughout
Oklahoma. Specifically, the student will study the
physical, mineralogical, electrical, and chemical
characteristics of Oklahoma expansive fine-grained
(clay) soils containing soluble sulfates. When soluble
sulfates are present and stabilization is required,
measures must be taken to counter the adverse effects
of adding a calcium-based stabilizer. Lime and other
calcium-based stabilizers are added to soils in
order to increase their strength and reduce their
compressibility. However, when a soil stabilizer
such as lime is added to soil containing soluble
sulfate the resulting reactions can have the opposite
effect and actually cause the foundations placed
in and on these soils to “fail.”
Dr.
Kianoosh Hatami
Applications of Geosynthetics in Civil
Engineering. The use of high-performance polymers
(i.e., geosynthetics) has become the method of choice
in a variety of applications related to the construction
and rehabilitation of infrastructure and protection
of the environment, ranging from road and building
foundations to landfill liners. REU students will
have the opportunity to learn about mechanical properties
of geosynthetics through research work involving
numerical simulation that is focused on static and
earthquake response of reinforced soil retaining
walls and foundations.
Dr. Yang (Eric) Hong
Remote Sensing Applications. Student will apply
remote sensing data and spatial analysis technology
to analyze and predict climate variability (global
change, El Nino, ENSO, droughts, etc.) and short-term
extreme events (severe storms, floods, and mudslides,
etc.). Students will also study techniques for natural
disasters mitigation and prevention.
Dr. Thomas
Kang
Experimental testing of reinforced concrete beam-column
joints - specimen fabrication and instrumentation.
Reinforced concrete beam-column joints are often
weak points under extreme events (e.g., earthquakes
or blasts). At the same time, the beam-column joint
is the region that creates reinforcing steel congestion.
The objective of this project is to investigate
a variety of parameters that affect seismic behavior
of beam-column joints, and also to find a solution
to steel congestion. Students will directly help
graduate students fabricate testing specimens of
beam-column joint subassemblies (formwork, steel
cutting and bending, assembling) as well as conduct
instrumentation including strain gauging. This opportunity
will give students a real-world experience of structural
design and experimental research.
Dr.
Tohren Kibbey
Environmental Interactions in Contaminated Unsaturated
Soils. Many contaminated sites contain complex mixtures
of organic pollutants, which may include oils, solvents
and detergents. Understanding how mixed contaminants
interact with soils can be important for designing
treatment strategies, and for understanding how
contaminants will influence the physical properties
of the soil. REU students will measure interactions
between organic liquids and natural soils, studying
the interaction of organic liquids on soil physical
and chemical behavior.
Dr.
Randall Kolar
Students will develop, analyze, or apply physics-based
numerical models of environmental systems, ranging
from surface water hydraulics to subsurface contaminant
transport and fate. If possible, students will be
paired with other REU students who are conducting
physical experiments so that the resulting data
can be used for model calibration and verification.
As an example, students might work in a team identifying
water quality issues in a distribution system. The
faculty team will consist of Dr. Sabatini (water
treatment in remote areas) and Dr. Strevett (sanitation
and water quality in transmission lines). Past projects
have included modeling the water quality of wetland
ecosystems, adding new physics (e.g., vegetative
resistance to shallow water flows) to existing models,
testing of complex numerical codes that simulate
the hydrodynamic behavior of lakes and estuaries,
benchmarking codes on high performance computing
platforms, and optimizing a code and file I/O for
maximum efficiency.
Dr.
Gerald Miller
Unsaturated Soil Mechanics. Students will investigate
unsaturated soil mechanics via field and laboratory
experiments. Students will work toward developing
improved methods for interpreting lab and field
test results taking account of the influence of
moisture content and matric suction. Experimental
work will include advanced elemental testing of
unsaturated soils in the Unsaturated Soil Mechanics
Laboratory (USML), as well as tests on physical
models of geotechnical systems (e.g. foundations,
in situ testing devices). Students will have an
opportunity to work with others who are using experimental
results to develop constitutive models and calibrate
numerical codes for unsaturated soil engineering.
Dr.
K. K. (Muralee) Muraleetharan
Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering. Students will
study the behavior of geotechnical engineering structures
such as dams, embankments, and waterfront structures
subjected to earthquake loads using analytical,
numerical, and experimental methods. Students will
get an opportunity to analyze some real world structures,
such as the Port of Los Angeles' Pier 400 for seismic
loads, using high performance finite element computer
codes and develop visualization tools to animate
the results obtained from these analyses.
Dr.
Robert W. Nairn
Environmental Remediation and Restoration. Students
will examine the biogeochemistry and ecology of
disturbed and contaminated watersheds with a focus
on wetlands, streams, lakes and riparian areas.
Remediation and restoration designs are goals. Students
will work in a team environment with other REU and
graduate students. Emphasis will be placed on investigations
of surface water quality and links with biological
integrity, elemental cycling of natural and anthropogenic
materials and ecological engineering.
Dr.
Mark A. Nanny
Humate-Enhanced Remediation of Petroleum Contaminated
Soils. Humates are geo-organic materials that enhance
hydrocarbon adsorption and facilitate biodegradation.
REU students will be involved in laboratory and
pilot-scale field tests to determine: 1) if hydrocarbons
strongly-bound to humates are bioavailable, 2) to
determine if humate-induced remediation of diesel
fuel and gasoline contaminated soils is a viable
and feasible remediation strategy, and 3) to transfer
knowledge gained from laboratory tests to pilot-scale
ex-situ experiments testing the effectiveness of
humate-induced remediation for soils contaminated
with crude oil, diesel fuel, and gasoline.
Dr.
Jinsong Pei
Structural dynamics. Students will work on projects
dealing with system identification, simulation and
control of linear and nonlinear systems. One possible
project could be health monitoring and damage detection
of large structures.
Dr. Chris
Ramseyer
Development of Repair Methods for End Damage on
AASHTO Girders. Students will help identify the
types of damage occurring near ends of AASHTO prestressed
girders, examine the possible causes of this damage,
and develop repair/strengthening methods to help
repair and/or prevent end damage. Methods to reduce
mechanical causes of end deterioration could potentially
include: the application of Fiber Reinforced Polymer
(FRP) strips to reduce shear cracking in the concrete,
the addition of external bars and plates to reduce
shear cracking, and the placement of fiber reinforced
polymer shells and injection with a high strength-high
strain cement-epoxy grout to increase bearing capacity.
Methods to reduce material and chemical causes of
end deterioration will also be investigated.
Dr.
David Sabatini
Drinking Water for Developing Countries: A Simple
Arsenic Removal Technology. The World Health Organization
indicates that over 1 billion people in the world
do not have access to safe drinking water. In response
to this situation, the United Nations Millenium
Development Goals and the US Paul Simon Water for
the Poor Act seek to bring safe drinking water to
these people. The WHO has identified arsenic in
ground water as a major threat to drinking water
in developing countries. This research will look
at iron-oxide coated sands as a simple and sustainable
technology for treating arsenic-tainted ground water
in remote villages. In addition to the physicochemistry
of iron-oxide coated sand for treating arsenic-tainted
ground water, this research will also look at socio-political
and economic factors that affect the sustainability
of this technology. Students might also work in
a team environment identifying water quality issues
in a distribution system. The faculty team will
consist of Dr. Kolar (water transmission for emerging
regions) and Dr. Strevett (sanitation and water
quality in transmission lines).
Dr.
Keith Strevett
Water Quality. Students will use field techniques
to examine the water quality deterioration of contaminated
ecosystems. Ecosystem scale studies for sustainable
environments will require a team effort. Students
will either work in a team environment with Dr.
Nairn's or Dr. Sabatini's REU participant and graduate
students. With Dr. Nairn, emphasis will be placed
on investigations of water quality impacts (both
surface and groundwater) and links with agrochemical
cycling of natural and anthropogenic materials,
pathogen transport, microbial ecology, natural attenuation
and ecological engineering. With Dr. Sabatini emphasis
will be placed on investigation of sanitation and
waste water treatment in remote areas.
Dr.
Baxter Vieux
Water Resources Management. Students will work on
water management issues dealing with water quality
and quantity. Evaluation of water resources is aided
by the use of simulation models, data analysis,
and geographical information systems (GIS). Remote
sensing data and GIS maps are useful for simulating
water resources. Data that can be used are digital
elevation models; precipitation rates from NEXRAD
radar; and soil maps. In a related area, water quality
from nonpoint sources of pollution can be studied
by REU in conjunction with Dr. Kolar.
Dr.
Musharraf Zaman
Recycled Pavement Materials. Students will explore
innovative ways for recycling of asphalt millings
so as to minimize environmental impact and avoid
disposal of such materials in landfills. Concurrently,
REU students will examine common performance-related
problems such as moisture damage (e.g., stripping),
rutting, thermal cracking, and fatigue, and explore
ways to characterize them and overcome them. Engineering
properties of rejuvenated asphalt mixes, such as
strength, permeability, and stability will be evaluated
in the laboratory. Use of contaminated materials
(e.g., aggregates, soils) in making asphalt products
will also be explored.
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