Tutorial: Fuzzy Set Theory in Water Resources Systems
Principles of using fuzzy set theory (FST) to describe imprecision (or vagueness) in water resources systems are provided. The main tool of FST, the membership function, measures the degree...
Bridges Under Surveillance
Although bridge monitoring is still in its infancy, research, pilot studies and field work are underway across the country. While today it's still a pie-in-the-sky goal, the...
Numerical Simulation of Mudflows from the Hypothetical Failure of a Debris Blockage Lake Below Mount St. Helens, WA
This paper evaluates the characteristics of mudflow events resulting from the hypothetical breaching of a debris blockage dam using a variety of lake levels and impounded water volumes...
Risk Analysis as a Tool to Determine Spillway Design Capacities
Lyman Dam is an earth and rockfill structure located on the Little Colorado River approximately 11 miles south and upstream of St. Johns, Arizona. Several studies examining the safety...
Estimation of Expected Damages, Indemnification Costs and Joint Probabilities of Dam Failures
This paper describes three methods to evaluate structural options for the rehabilitation of an existing dam using the dollar-denominated risk and capital cost associated with each option...
Identification Techniques for Bank Erosion and Failure Processes
The Hydraulics Laboratory of the US Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station (WES) has developed techniques to design small flood-control channels. A component of this research is the...
Failure Modeling of Hydraulic Systems
Techniques of survival analysis are investigated for modeling the failure of hydraulic systems. The Proportional Hazards Model has the advantage of being able to separate the effects on...
Mt. Elbert Pumped Storage Trashrack Failure
The failure of three trashrack sections for unit 2 at the suction-draft tube intake occured after one year in service. However, the trashracks for unit 1 had five years of service with...
Hermite-Galerkin Model for Dam-Break Floods
A model based on the finite element method using cubic Hermite basis functions and Galerkin weighting was formulated to solve the partial differential equations that govern unsteady one-dimensional...
The ENF Test: Critical Analysis and Computational Modelling
We have developed an experimental and computational strategy to moderate the experimental scatter of the interlaminar fracture toughness values (GIIc)...
Development of a Plane-Strain Device for Soft Rock
Work is now in progress to build a plane-strain apparatus for 'soft' (unconfined compressive strenghts below 35 MPa) rock and concrete, based upon a passive,...
Combined Compression-Shear Experiments on Mortar-Aggregate Interfaces
Material interfaces between matrix and aggregate particles in cementitious composites such as concrete are considered to be a very important component of the material microstructure, which...
Premature Failures of Outdoor Masonry Pavements
The authors have investigated and repaired a number of premature inservice failures of masonry paving systems in recent years. These systems have become common, built over underground...
Performance of Latex-Modified Thin-Set Mortars in Applications of Thin-Brick Veneer
The use of field-applied polymer-modified mortars for adhering thin brick or tile to building exteriors has become increasingly common in the last decade. The latex-modified mortars can...
Building Joint Movement
Moisture leakage in masonry claddings occurs not only through copings and facial separation cracks, but also through failed sealant joints in the veneer. The factors affecting joint movement...
Environmental Degradation of Concrete Pore Structure
This paper illustrates how Conductometric Phase Transition Porosimetry can be used to monitor changes in the pore structure of Portland Cement Concrete which result from repeated freezing...
Size Effect in Concrete Structures and Influence of Loading Rate
The size effect law models the influence of the dimensions of the structure or specimen on the failure stress. This model can be used to quantify the brittleness of failure, and determine...
Uni- and Bi-Axial Compressive Fatigue of Fiber Concrete
Fatigue behavior of fiber reinforced concrete is studied under uniaxial and biaxial loadings. The S-N curves and the cyclic deformations of fiber concrete are compared to those of plain...
Transportation: New Systems for the New Century
By the end of this decade, a new coordinated transportation system for the U.S. could consist of high speed rail, maglev, regional airports and highways built solely for trucks. It would...
Structural Details: Is Anything Missing?
While actual failure of a structure is uncommon, many projects have less publicized, detailing-related difficulties involving rework, changes, clarifications, and increased costs. If the...
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