Follow

• 

  Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling Of Influencing Factors For Concrete Curing

  John Awaitey

  Concrete curing is a comprehensive construction activity that varies in duration and is critical to the quality and strength of the material when it hardens. An essential challenge of this activity is to choose the appropriate curing and testing methods for a wide assortment of concrete designs because the material is affected by multiple factors (e.g., temperature and moisture) and requires the collaboration of workers, engineers, and inspectors. This research proposes to explore the influencing factors and create a data model to describe the relationships of the factors, which can help project teams to understand the key elements of concrete curing and enhance the quality control of the construction activity. In this research, a questionnaire survey was designed, reviewed, and approved to collect the information from the departments of transportation in the U.S. and Canada with the purpose to understand the current curing practice of on-site concrete. The survey was delivered and managed using an online tool called Qualtrics and the received data was analyzed using an exploratory structural equation modeling (SEM) method. The analysis will reveal the underlying factors that cause patterns and also study indicators or actors to explain these factors. Next, a SEM will be built to assess the latent variables that cannot be observed but rather inferred based on prevailing factors and group these factors into sections based on their characteristics. After the model formation, the research will examine Cronbach's alpha to estimate the internal consistency of the identified factors and generalize the results.

• 

  Economic Feasibility Of A Solar Photovoltaic System On Top Of The Bone Student Center At Illinois State University

  Mitchell Briggs and Thomas Langbein

  With Illinois aiming for 100% renewable energy by 2050, implementing renewable energy and sustainability systems at educational institutions is vital to Illinois’ transition to a more sustainable energy path. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the economic feasibility of installing a solar photovoltaic (PV) system on top of the Bone Student Center at Illinois State University. Here we suggest different solar PV array configurations that explore the cost of a system versus its efficiency. These configurations are based on solar PV modeling software, and interviews with professionals in the field, which provides the information necessary to conduct an economic assessment of these configurations. Technical analysis information allowed us to create SAM and Microsoft Excel based models for Power Purchasing Agreement (PPA) and ownership financing plans. The results of this study can provide other public institutions, within the state of Illinois, an example of the economic feasibility of installing a solar PV array system on campus.

• 

  Influence Of Field-Curing Conditions On Strength Of Concrete Test Specimens

  Tejaswi Reddy Katangur, John Awaitey, and Juhi Patil

  Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) follow Illinois modified AASHTO T23 test method for making and curing concrete test specimens in the field. This provides the information when to remove form/falsework and open pavement to traffic. However, there is a lack of comparison of field-cured specimen strength with the strength of the actual in-place concrete item. The objective of this research is to build up the understanding of the current state of practice for field-curing methods. To achieve this objective, a comprehensive literature review was conducted to identify the field-curing methods used by various highway agencies. A total of 36 highway agencies (34 US highway agencies and 2 Canadian provinces) were reviewed using literature collected from the Transportation Research Information Service (TRIS) and standard specifications from DOTs’ webpages. It was found that majority of the transportation agencies use the field-curing cylinders (28 out of 36, 78%) followed by the maturity method (16 out of 36, 44%) to decide when to open pavement to traffic or removal of form/falsework. Only 12 out of 36 (33%) of transportation agencies use beams for determining field-strength. Further, 45% of the DOTs’ use field-curing cylinders more than beams for opening pavement to traffic. Both 100 mm x 200 mm (4 inch x 8 inch) and 150 mm x 300 mm (6 inch x 12 inch) were the commonly used sizes for cylinders. For beams, DOTs’ commonly use 150 mm x 150 mm x 500 mm (6 inch x 6 inch x 20 inch) specimen size. The commonly used field-curing methods for cylinders were casted in the same manner as concrete, field-cured in an insulated box such as cooler or under burlap/insulation near the concrete item. Whereas beams were commonly field cured in a damped sandpit or under burlap/ insulation near the concrete item.

• 

  Predicting The Mortality Risk In Covid-19 With Clinical Characteristics And Laboratory Outcome Characteristics Using Data Mining Methods

  Neda Mohammadhasanshirazi

  Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was declared as a pandemic. We aimed to predict death outcome of COVID-19 using data mining methods. Material and Methods: 72390 laboratory-confirmed case were included to the study during February 10, 2020 to August 17, 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data. . In order to be able to find important and influential variables in predicting the mortality of COVID-19 among our variables including demographical, and clinical factors, we used the random forest method. The prediction of death outcome was done using logistic regression with all variables and selected variables. Results: Through all patients, 2150 (2.97%) cases experienced the death outcome. The association between disease outcome (survivor and deceased) and variables including age, gender, US worker, developed, race, all sign and symptoms, abnormal chest X-ray, ARDS, hospitalization, ICU admission, and intubation was significant (p-value < 0.001). The median value of mean decrease accuracy was 42.10 and variables including age group, ARDS, fever, sex, cough, race, subjective fever, abnormal chest X-ray, diarrhea, intubation, dyspnea, and Myalgia were selected as the important factors for prediction of death outcome. Logistic regression with all variables and selected variables had the AUC of 0.96. Other performance criteria were slightly different between two models. Conclusion: Using data mining models, the death of patients with COVID-19 can be predicted with high accuracy

• 

  Lighting The Way To Solar: A Guide On Residential Solar Incentives For Those Who Call Normal, Il Home.

  Jessica Phillips, Ryan Hand, and Kevin Ellis

  The path to installing a solar photovoltaic (PV) system on one’s own roof can be both confusing and expensive. Although the cost of solar is declining, it remains a barrier to many potential adopters. To combat this and promote clean energy, the government at both state and federal levels offer incentives including personal tax credits, direct cash payments, loan programs and solar renewable energy credits. This research study pertains to single family homeowners serviced by the Ameren utility company in Normal, IL. However, the framework of this study may be applicable to other residents within the United States who want to understand what incentive structures are available to them. After explaining the incentives that are available, this study works to match the most compatible incentives with single-family homeowners. These groups are then used as representatives in our System Advisor Models (SAM) which are generated for each group paired with each incentive with all other parameters equal at a specified standard. Through comparative analysis, financial feasibility is determined based on the incentives impact on initial costs of installation and simple payback period. The significance of this study is to show residents what the available options are, along with the benefits in hopes of increasing the rate of residential solar adoption in Normal, IL.

• 

  Technical And Economic Feasibility Study Of Utility-Scale Solar Photovoltaic And Energy Storage Systems At Illinois State University

  Ryan Plucinski, Rafael Rivera, and Dalton Starkey

  Solar energy has come a long way since the turn of the century and has been proven to be a useful source of renewable energy from both an environmental, economic and educational standpoint. The advancement of energy storage technology has opened more doors to the capabilities of production for these systems. This study shows expected outcomes of potential locations on Illinois State University’s (ISU) campus. While there have been several studies conducted on solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on campus none have analyzed the implementation of energy storage. We will use Google Earth Pro and Helioscope to conduct site analysis for a majority of the locations within campus for optimal placement of PV array systems. System Advisory Model will provide financial estimates and energy analysis that will cover the data collected through other tools. These methods give feedback and forecasts to the University. This study seeks to provide information as to how a combination of the two systems can lower demand during high demand hours ISU.

• 

  Improvement Of Work Safety Using Vehicle-Collision Warning System And Deep Learning Approach

  Tianfang Shi

  Construction workers are affected by high hazard factors on job sites and should be protected from fatalities and injuries. With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) and Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR), machine vision has become essential in avoiding collision safety accidents during construction. This research aims at collision prevention between workers and machines (i.e., trucks) in excavation site construction by an intelligent evaluation and simulation system to reflect worker–machine safety status. The system included: (1) simulation of the key factors affecting the safety of the interactive operation between workers and machines based on literature review and documented cases; (2) assessment of the safety state of a monitored object using a gaming environment. A case study of concrete site construction is presented to illustrate and verify the entire process of safety assessment using the proposed method. This study develops an innovative simulation system and comes up with prospective research works, which can connect with VR/AR. It is envisioned that the outcomes of this research could assist both researchers and industrial practitioners with improved safety management.

• 

  Feasibility Analysis Of Retrofitting Central Illinois Regional Airport With Solar Photovoltaic Arrays

  Evan Shook, Jackson Brummel, and Kevin Healy

  With the current decline of fossil fuel production, there is a growing political push towards a more environmentally sustainable way to harness clean energy. To address this issue, we aim to create a construction bid, where solar photovoltaic is implemented on unused land at Central Illinois Regional Airport. Many Municipal airports, often as a consequence of the public bidding domain, where the lowest and most responsible bidder is awarded the project, properties are left with an abundance of unused land that could be utilized for profit maximization. In order to provide a more descriptive framework for a change in energy management, we decided that a bid proposal is the best option because it is implemented in actual solar construction projects. The following construction bid encompasses the elements of a bid proposal to include financial analysis, satellite mapping and array layout, estimation, fulfillment of FAA regulations, and safety mitigation procedures. This research aims to be an economic and environmentally driven framework for institutions should they be interested in proposing a photovoltaic retrofit of their own.

• 

  University Of Nebraska-Lincoln District Solar Photovoltaic Technical And Economic Feasibility Analysis

  Brittany Weber, Katrina Keller, Katelyn Dunnagan, and Oliver Wuebbels

  This research evaluates the installation of a variety of photovoltaic systems throughout the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to offset the energy consumption of the campus. These systems include roof-mount, ground-mount, carport and agrivoltaic structures. Previous studies have been performed for the feasibility of commercial solar, but they have lacked focus on campus-wide integrations that can be replicated. Using this research other universities, colleges, or campus-based businesses can follow this process to achieve their own sustainability goals. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has a master plan to achieve net zero energy for the campus as well as providing educational opportunities to students, faculty, and the community. We conducted design and site analyses to determine which buildings on campus would offset the most energy while being financially enticing to investors. To accomplish this, we look to achieve an internal rate of return of at least 10% and have all the systems be completely covered by power purchase agreements to eliminate the upfront equipment investment from the university. Additionally, we evaluated the legitimacy of our system designs by performing a distribution analysis. A battery storage solution is designed and evaluated for the roof mount system proposed to be installed on the Animal Science building which will store 30% of the system’s energy production. Our results are expected to show the benefits of integrating several solar photovoltaic solutions throughout a college campus or large district. It will not only offset the energy cost of the university, but also serve as an educational opportunity for replicable solutions and inspiration within the commercial solar industry.