The transportation infrastructure privatization is an essential solution to the public fund's shortage of transportation investments. In the privatization practices, the private firms build, operate, and own the transportation infrastructure under a limited term. Due to the private sector's involvement, the efficiency of the transportation service is determined not only...
Fluid injection is one of the major triggering factors of infrastructure collapse and geo-hazards, among which some of the most recurrent ones are rainfall-induced landslides. Such events exhibit complicated spatiotemporal patterns, spanning from slow deformation to extremely rapid movements influencing large regions. To prevent the occurrence of catastrophic failures and...
With connected vehicle generated (CVG) information, traffic stream parameters become straightforwardly quantifiable, enabling traffic state characterization and examination over a variety of operational conditions. Since the observation is independent of any spatial restrictions and unaffected by queue buildup and discharge, CVG data offer more comprehensive, more reliable inputs to the...
A hybrid multimodal mobility system aims to deliver mobility as a service by integrating a broad range of existing and emerging public transportation services. The appeal of a hybrid system is twofold. First, it can strike a better balance between cost and level of service (accessibility, efficiency etc.). Second, it...
The term compaction band identifies a rich variety of structural features of the Earth's crust that affect formations of sedimentary rocks. The most common definition for compaction band often found in the literature describes them as narrow planar zones of concentrated porosity reduction, which may involve limited to none shear...
The effect of Alkali-Silica Reaction (ASR) on concrete mechanical behavior and the multi-physics considerations that come along are highly complex. Hydration and other chemical reactions occur at the micrometer scale. Hygro-thermal phenomena and concrete cracks due to ASR are typically studied at the meso-scale, i.e. at the aggregate level. At...
The staggered (or imbricated) lamellar ``brick-and-mortar" nanostructure of nacre endows nacre with strength and fracture toughness values exceeding by an order of magnitude those of the constituents, and inspires the advent of new robust biomimetic materials. While many deterministic studies clarified these advantageous features in the mean sense, a closed-form...
This thesis deals with modeling long-term deformation and failure of concrete and shale structures. First concrete structures are studied. For concrete structures, design lifetime of over a hundred years is required. Shrinkage, swelling, creep and Alkali-silica reaction are significant parts of the long-term deformation of concrete and are studied here....
Phononic crystals and acoustic metamaterials exhibit unique wave propagation properties rising from periodicity and the heterogeneity in material/structure design. One important property is tailoring the propagation of elastic waves from band gaps in such systems – frequency ranges of strong wave attenuation. This thesis first explores the idea of gaining...
Granular materials are ubiquitous elements of our daily life, representing some of the most manipulated materials on Earth and playing a key role in disparate fields of science and engineering. Considerable research has been performed to explore the factors that impact the mechanical behavior of granular materials. Within this context,...