Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Events for March
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Oral Defense Dissertation
Fri, Mar 01, 2013 @ 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Hossein Ataei, CE Ph.D. Candidate
Talk Title: Effect of the Air Blast on Glazing Systems Safety:
Abstract: Glass fragments are a prime source of injury to occupants of buildings subjected to explosive events. During an air blast, window glass breaks into flying shards (or fragments) that account for civilian injuries ranging from minor cuts to severe wounds and in many cases to death.
Through balancing the safety and security of the window panels with physical appearance and cost-effectiveness, a successful blast-resistant glazing design considers the principles of a reasonable degree of protection against explosive threats based on the proposed level of security and previous lessons learned. Therefore, it is necessary to have a better understanding of the mechanics of glass panel responses to different glazing systems parameters and the blast load characteristics.
In this research, the responses of annealed glass and fully tempered glass panels subjected to air blast loadings are studied by application of the explicit finite element analysis in conjunction with fracture micromechanics principles. The window panel failure patterns and the glass crack propagation paths are investigated and analyzed using advanced finite element modeling techniques.
The results of this study indicate that the response of the window panels to blast loading cases is dependent upon the glazing material properties, window panel sizes, window framing fixity and the blast load intensities.
These findings will eventually be helpful in development of a more comprehensive flying glass injury model that uses the appropriate structural, architectural and building perimeter choices to better assess the threats that face the building occupants' safety and the civilian communities' security against the flying glass debris.
Advisor: Professor James C. Anderson
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209 Conference Room
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Astani CEE Ph.D. Seminar
Fri, Mar 01, 2013 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Hadi Meidani,, Ph.D., USC-Astani Civil Engineering
Talk Title: Toward Smart Cities: Uncertainty Management for Complex Systems of Systems
Abstract: Today, cities are under extreme stress due to their growing population and ageing infrastructure. To alleviate this stress, a more efficient and sustainable management of urban systems is needed. To this end, the myriad of Big Data from sensors and mobile devices together with efficient computational tools can help improve our descriptive and predictive capacities and subsequently materialize the idea of Smart Cities. A true Smart City requires coordinating social systems, transportation networks, and water and electricity distribution systems. In this presentation, I will focus on the systems-of-systems approach for the management of Smart Cities, and describe our research contributions to the uncertainty management of these systems of systems. First, I will discuss the representation of the uncertainties in the study of systems of systems. These uncertainties can incur from inaccurate input-output models, erroneous mathematical approximations, and data incompleteness. As an example, I will describe our probabilistic model for Markov transition matrices and its application in multiscale energy demand modeling. Second, I will share our algorithmic development for efficient propagation of these uncertainties through numerical models to obtain random performance metrics. In closing, I will elaborate on how our efforts can enhance decisions related to the robust optimal management of Smart Cities
as complex systems of systems.
"
Location: John Stauffer Science Lecture Hall (SLH) - 102
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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CEE Ph.D. Seminar
Fri, Mar 08, 2013 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Nancy Daher and Wael Elhaddad, CEE Ph.D. Candidates
Talk Title: Chemical Characterization and Source Apportionment of Fine and Coarse Particulate Matter Inside the Cenacolo Vinciano, Home of Leonardo Da Vinciââ¬â¢s ââ¬ÅLast Supper
Abstract: Nancy Daher - 4:00-4:30pm
The association between exposure to indoor particulate matter (PM) and damage to cultural assets has been of primary relevance to museum conservators. PM-induced damage to the ââ¬ÅLast Supperââ¬Â painting, one of Leonardo da Vinciââ¬â¢s most famous artworks, has been a major concern, given the location of this masterpiece inside a refectory in the city center of Milan, one of Europeââ¬â¢s most polluted cities. To assess this risk, a one-year sampling campaign was conducted at indoor and outdoor sites of the paintingââ¬â¢s location, where time-integrated fine and coarse PM (PM2.5 and PM2.5 -10) samples were simultaneously collected. Findings showed that PM2.5 and PM2.5- 10 concentrations were reduced indoors by 88 and 94% on a yearly average basis, respectively. This large reduction is mainly attributed to the efficacy of the deployed ventilation system in removing particles. Furthermore, PM2.5 dominated indoor particle levels, with organic matter as the most abundant species. Next, the chemical mass balance model was applied to apportion primary and secondary sources to monthly indoor fine organic carbon (OC) and PM mass. Results revealed that gasoline vehicles, urban soil, and wood-smoke only contributed to an annual average of 11.2% of OC mass. Tracers for these major sources had minimal infiltration factors. On the other hand, fatty acids and squalane had high indoor-to-outdoor concentration ratios with fatty acids showing a good correlation with indoor OC, implying a common indoor source.
Wael Elhaddad - 4:30-5pm
Talk: "Towards Optimal Design of Semiactive Structural Control".
Location: John Stauffer Science Lecture Hall (SLH) - 102
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Astani CEE Seminar
Thu, Mar 14, 2013 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Jerome P. Lynch, Anne Voshel and Gerald Nudo CEE Faculty Scholar Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Department of Computer Science, University of Michigan
Talk Title: Compressive Sensing in Asynchronous Wireless Sensor Networks for High-Performance Infrastructure Monitoring
Abstract: Low-cost wireless sensors have been designed for dense instrumentation in civil infrastructure systems to monitor structural responses and estimate structural conditions (i.e., automated structural health monitoring). Ongoing field deployments in operational infrastructure systems have confirmed that wireless sensors can serve as accurate and reliable alternatives to traditional tethered sensors. However, these same deployments have brought to the fore a number of technical challenges that must be adequately addressed before widespread adoption can occur. First, viable long-term energy solutions for wireless sensors remain elusive. Second, wireless communications come with limited communication bandwidths that limit the amount of data that can be communicated by the network in real-time. In this presentation, compressive sensing is explored to resolve some of the aforementioned hurdles of wireless sensor networks including energy consumption and limited communication bandwidths. Compressive sensing exploits signal sparsity in a specific domain to perform accurate signal reconstruction using a smaller set of data than that required by the traditional Nyquist-Shannon criterion. Compressive sensing presents a significant advantage to sensor networks when considering the amount of work saved in the acquisition, storage, and transmission of sensor data. In a wireless sensor network where a premium is placed on energy and transmission bandwidth, the energy efficiency of the compressive sensing framework proves to be an even more valuable asset. In this presentation, two compressive sensing strategies are proposed: compressive sensing of randomly sampled time-history data using the compressive sampling matching pursuits algorithm (CoSaMP) and compressive sensing based on bio-inspired time-frequency decomposition. In both approaches, traditional synchronous sample-transmit data acquisition strategies are abandoned for asynchronous ones. The methods proposed are applied to real structural monitoring data collected from wireless sensor networks installed in full-scale structures.
Biography: Dr. Jerome Lynch is an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan; he is also holds a courtesy faculty appointment with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Dr. Lynch completed his graduate studies at Stanford University where he received his PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering in 2002, MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering in 1998, and MS in Electrical Engineering in 2003. Prior to attending Stanford, Dr. Lynch received his BE in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Cooper Union in New York City. His current research interests are in the areas of wireless cyber-physical systems, cyberinfrastructure tools for management of massive structural monitoring datasets, and nanoengineered thin film sensors for damage detection. Dr. Lynch has been awarded the 2005 ONR Young Investigator Award, 2009 NSF CAREER Award, 2009 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) and 2012 EMI Leonardo da Vinci Award.
Host: Dr. Erik Johnson
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209 Conference Room
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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CEE Ph.D. Seminar
Fri, Mar 15, 2013 @ 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Charles DeVore, CEE Ph.D. Candidate
Talk Title: Damage Detection Using Substructure Identification
Abstract:
As civil infrastructure ages, occupants and users are placed at risk.
Due to limited funding, agencies are required to push structures past their original design lifetime. This creates an imperative for the civil engineering community to develop robust and accurate methods for monitoring the health of civil structures and ensuring public safety.
This goal is realized by developing methods to detect both long-term degradation and immediate post-event health assessment. New methods are required because current practice, based on subjective time- and labor-intensive visual inspection is unable to adequately meet these needs. This requires novel research to transform the current state-of-the-art of visual inspection into a new paradigm of continuous monitoring.
Substructure identification has emerged as a promising damage detection and long-term monitoring tool for civil structures. Substructure identification starts by applying a reduced order model to a portion of the structure --- analogous to a coarse finite element model --- and then forms an estimator of the reduced order behavior using response measurements from the global structure. Its benefits are increased sensitivity to common structural damage, decentralized data processing, improved statistical performance, and others. This work develops a generalized framework for formulating substructure estimators. Moreover, it develops two important predictors of estimator performance: model function curvature and an identification error analysis. This allows the analyst to develop an improved estimator and evaluate its performance.
These theoretical developments are applied to several simulations including uncertainty propagation, damage detection, and damage localization. These simulations demonstrate that substructure identification is well-suited for chain structures. Next, a controlled substructure identification procedure is described and the performance is evaluated. An active control law is developed using non-convex constrained optimization.
Experimental verification is provided by two studies. First, a two-story, bench-scale flexible structure is identified. Then, improved identification precision is provided by passive structural control. The second study uses a 12 ft, four-story, steel structure. This structure is identified and damage, caused by releasing a story-level's boundary condition, is detected. Moreover, second-floor identification is not achieved, which is correctly predicted by the identification error analysis developed herein.
Concluding remarks are provided and avenues for future work are detailed. Specifically, an active control experiment using the 12 ft structure is proposed. Semi-active control design is discussed and substructure identification estimators for frame and bridge structures are outlined.
Advisor: Dr. Erik Johnson
Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209 Conference Room
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Astani CEE Ph.D. Seminar
Fri, Mar 15, 2013 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Nastaran Bassam Zadeh , CEE Ph.D. Students
Talk Title: Optimal and reliable management of smart grids in an uncertain environment
Location: John Stauffer Science Lecture Hall (SLH) - 102
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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2013 Albert Dorman Distinguished Lecture Series
Wed, Mar 27, 2013 @ 04:00 PM - 05:30 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Greg DiLoreto, 2013 ASCE President
Talk Title: Making the Case for Infrastructure Investment: Highlights from the 2013 Report Card for Americaââ¬â¢s Infrastructure
Series: Albert Dorman Distinguished Lecture Series
Abstract: Just released in March, the 2013 Report Card for Americaââ¬â¢s Infrastructure provides a comprehensive look at infrastructure conditions across sixteen categories. This session offers an opportunity to get the first look at the new interactive app version of this nationally-recognized report issued once every four years. Get new information on trends in infrastructure conditions and needs including bridges, roads, and inland waterways, as well as a suite of tools and information available as part of the app to help develop tailor-made messages for your local community. A new emphasis on state and local statistics will make the report even more relevant for local decision-makers, and the online capability means that you donââ¬â¢t need a hard copy of the report to have information at your fingertips.
Biography: Gregory E. Diloreto, P.E., P.LS., D. WRE, F.ASCE
ASCE President 2013
Greg DiLoreto is the Chief Executive Officer of the Tualatin (To-wal-a-tin) Valley Water District located in metropolitan Portland Oregon. He has worked in the public works field for 34 years, 17 years as a public works director/city engineer. Mr. DiLoreto holds a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Oregon State University and a Masters degree in Public Administration from Portland State University. He is registered as a civil and environmental engineer and a professional land surveyor in Oregon. Mr. DiLoreto is a fellow in the American Society of Civil Engineers. He served on the ASCE Board of Direction 2004-06. He has received the 1986 ASCE Edmund Friedman Young Engineer Award, the 1995 ASCE Oregon Section Outstanding Civil Engineer Award and the 2005 ASCE Government Engineer of the Year Award. In 2003 he was inducted into the Oregon State University Academy of Distinguished Engineers.
Host: Astani CEE Department
Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 526
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Ph. D. Seminar
Fri, Mar 29, 2013 @ 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Woonhoe Kim and Chanin Chuen-Im , CE Ph.D. Candidates
Talk Title: Phosphate removal model by calcium ion and oyster shell powder
Abstract: Second Presenter:
Chanin Chuen-Im.
A Coastal Development Idea for Gulf of Thailand to Improve Global Trades
Social-Pizza is served immediately following the seminar
Location: KAP 209
Time: 5:00pm
Location: John Stauffer Science Lecture Hall (SLH) - 102
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes