Browsing by Subject "Retrofitting"
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Item Assessment of user satisfaction of restrooms with existing toilet fixtures and new low consumption fixtures(Texas A&M University, 2004-11-15) Vankamamidi, Neelima RamanThis research in Langford Building 'A', Texas A&M University, is an attempt to determine the user satisfaction of the new, low consumption toilet fixtures and lavatory valves. 253 surveys were given to the subjects, during the four phases of upgrading the restroom fixtures, to find and compare user satisfaction in each phase. The four phases were: 1. The as-is condition of the flush valves and the lavatory valve. 2. Low consumption manual flush valve and low consumption manual lavatory valve. 3. Old style low consumption automatic flush valve and low consumption automatic lavatory valve. 4. Low consumption manual flush valve and low consumption automatic lavatory valve. The survey analysis for the building showed a positive response from the users for the low consumption valves, but not for the automatic valves, as they did not function as they were expected to.Item Assessment of critical parameters that affect the seismic performance of bridge steel pedestals(2009-05-15) Srivastava, SiddharthThe Georgia Department of Transportation has been installing steel pedestals on bridges, ranging in height up to 33?? (0.85m) to increase the vertical clearance of many multi-span simply-supported and multi-span continuous bridges in Georgia. But there is a concern about the performance of these steel pedestals as they are designed without seismic consideration and may perform poorly compared to high-type steel ?rocker? bearings, which were found to be unstable supports in previous earthquakes. This research models a candidate bridge using experimental data that captures the force-displacement hysteretic behavior of the steel pedestals. The results show how these steel pedestals behave when subjected to a range of ground motions. Nonlinear time history analysis is conducted using SAP 2000 software on a three-dimensional model of the candidate bridge. In addition, parametric studies of various critical parameters that can affect the seismic performance of the bridge are investigated, such as 1) varying the mass of the structure, 2) varying the stiffness of the deck joint, 3) varying column heights, and 4) seismic retrofitting using cable restrainers. The results show that these pedestals should not be used in regions of high seismicity, and in regions of low seismicity, it is likely that they need to be retrofitted. They can, although, be used safely in regions of low seismicity. In addition, it was shown that the mass of a superstructure and height of the columns significantly affect the behavior of these steel pedestals, and should be given a careful consideration before usage. It was also shown that the stiffness of the expansion joints does not significantly affect the displacement of the steel pedestals and the forces transmitted to them. However, if the expansion joints are too stiff compared to the adjacent bridge components, then the forces transferred during pounding of superstructure is increased significantly.