Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Civil Engineering

The main objective of this study is to provide designers, manufacturers, and owners of new parking facilities with best practices and design choices considering lifecycle costs and extreme loading scenarios for several selected parking structures in Ohio. To achieve this overall goal, an interactive tool was developed using Python software to perform lifecycle cost analysis while considering various parameters like joint sealant, flange-to-flange connectors, and general repairs due to corrosion after environmental exposure. Also, snow load effects were investigated when a plow pushes all the uniform snow accumulated on the top of the roof slabs of thirteen parking garage structures to the corners or edges. Furthermore, the additional live load that could come from large numbers of driverless cars on cast-in-place and precast concrete parking structures was investigated. In this dissertation, a lifecycle assessment methodology is proposed for cast-in-place and precast concrete parking structures to identify and address durability and structural performance issues with the objective of answering these specific questions: (1) how to perform overall lifecycle assessment of parking structures, (2) how to perform performance assessment of double-tee beam flange-to-flange connections and joint leakage, and (3) how to investigate a parking structure's ability to carry unexpected loads. The author had access to design, repair, and maintenance data from several existing concrete parking structures. Historical maintenance and repair records were used to assess the impact of design changes to improve the durability and structural performance. An interactive tool is developed in Python software to perform lifecycle cost analysis considering various parameters including joint sealants, flange-to-flange connector, periodical damage repairs, and general maintenance due to environmental exposure. The new program also evaluates the fatigue stress conditions considering the design li (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Halil Sezen (Advisor); Abdollah Shafieezadeh (Committee Member); Jieun Hur (Committee Member) Subjects: Civil Engineering

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, Civil Engineering

Extreme hazards such as earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes can significantly affect the performance and serviceability of structures and infrastructure systems during their lifetime. Recent prominent examples include the 2017 earthquake in the vicinity of Iran-Iraq border and the 2017 earthquake in Mexico that led to hundreds of fatalities. Hurricane Matthew (2016), Harvey (2017), Irma (2017), and Jose (2017) caused significant damage to critical infrastructure systems in a number of south-eastern states in the U.S. Such hazards can occur multiple times during the lifetime of infrastructure systems. Each event is accompanied by a set of adverse consequences including, among others, human casualties, physical damage, and downtime due to the repair of damage and restoration of the functionality of the system. In addition, as infrastructure assets are exposed to environmental stressors and service loads, they undergo gradual aging and deterioration over their lifetime. The subsequent degradations in the capacity of the systems increase their vulnerability against hazards over time. These compounding effects, among others, pose a tremendous challenge for evaluating the performance of structures and infrastructure systems, and managing their performance. In the light of such challenges and budget limitations, it is important to evaluate the lifecycle cost of infrastructure systems in order to minimize the potential losses over their service lifetime. For structures or infrastructure systems that are exposed to multiple hazards during their lifetimes, damage accumulation is a critical issue. As supported by historical records, the accumulation of damage from prior events can considerably increase the vulnerability of these systems to future hazards. However, this phenomenon is either disregarded or addressed inadequately in existing risk management frameworks. Additionally, these frameworks do not incorporate effects of gradual deterioration on the reduced capacity of i (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Abdollah Shafieezadeh (Advisor); Rabi Mishalani (Committee Member); Halil Sezen (Committee Member); Can Emre Koksal (Committee Member); Steve Hovick (Committee Member) Subjects: Civil Engineering

Master of Science, University of Toledo, 2014, Civil Engineering

All man-made structures and materials have a design life. Across the United States there is a common theme for our water and wastewater treatment facilities and infrastructure. The design life of many of our mid 20th century water and wastewater infrastructures in the United States have reached or are reaching life expectancy limits (ASCE, 2010). To compound the financial crisis of keeping up with the degradation, meeting and exceeding quality standards has never been more important in order to protect local fresh water supplies. This thesis analyzes the energy consumption of a municipal water and wastewater treatment system from a Lake Erie intake through potable treatment and back through wastewater treatment then discharge. The system boundary for this thesis includes onsite energy consumed by the treatment system and distribution/reclamation system as well as the energy consumed by the manufacturing of treatment chemicals applied during the study periods. By analyzing energy consumption, subsequent implications from greenhouse gas emissions and financial expenditures were quantified. Through the segregation of treatment and distribution processes from non-process energy consumption, such as heating, lighting, and air handling, this study identified that the potable water treatment system consumed an annual average of 2.42E+08 kBtu, spent $5,812,144 for treatment and distribution, and emitted 28,793 metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions. Likewise, the wastewater treatment system consumed an annual average of 2.45E+08 kBtu, spent $3,331,961 for reclamation and treatment, and emitted 43,780 metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions. The area with the highest energy usage, financial expenditure, and greenhouse gas emissions for the potable treatment facility and distribution system was from the manufacturing of the treatment chemicals, 1.10E+08 kBtu, $3.7 million, and 17,844 metric tons of CO2 equivalent, respectively. Of the onsite energy (1.4E-03 kWh (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Defne Apul PhD, PE (Committee Chair); Gruden Cyndee PhD, PE (Committee Member); Moyer Kevin (Committee Member) Subjects: Area Planning and Development; Civil Engineering; Climate Change; Engineering; Environmental Economics; Environmental Engineering; Environmental Management; Environmental Science; Environmental Studies; Land Use Planning; Sustainability; Urban Planning; Water Resource Management

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2005, Economics

ABSTRACT This study investigates the lifecycle of social capital formation at the individual level. A dynamic model is developed that analyzes individuals' decision making about social capital accumulation that incorporates characteristics specific to social capital. The structural parameters of the model are estimated that address a variety of social capital issues. Theoretical Model The notion that people build up a network of friends (stock of social capital) by spending time in interacting with others (investment in social capital) is conducive to a neoclassical treatment. The model proposes a two-part return specification where, as distinct from the usual lagged return from stocks, social capital has an instantaneous return in the form of a direct utility accrued from the investment activity itself. The model allows for both the opportunity cost of time and depreciation rates to vary over the lifecycle. When parameterized the model can generate a variety of time paths of interest and allows for comparative dynamic exercises by perturbing parameter values. Econometric Model The structural parameters of the model are estimated using the method of simulated moments where matching is done using a GMM-type minimum distance estimation procedure. The data set used is from the General Social Survey (1972-2002). Chi-square statistics are calculated to test various restrictions to determine whether the parameter estimates are different among different groups. Results and Findings This study finds that social capital does depreciate and this depreciation rate varies over the lifecycle. The stylized fact of existing research that the time path of the stock of social capital has an inverted U-shape is not supported. Net benefits are higher for people with more education and which leads them to invest more in social capital despite having a higher opportunity costs of investment. This resolves a paradox that previous research could not explain. When comparative inves (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Donald Haurin (Advisor) Subjects: