Virginia Tech
Designing Operations of Geocomposite Membrane Installation in Flexible Pavements
Abstract
dc:description.abstractDue to technological innovations new materials are introduced to the construction industry from time to time and need to be installed properly by contractors. Based on their past experience, the contractors have some ideas on how to carry out the operation. However, those ideas are just a good starting point. In order to attain an efficient and productive operation, many issues need to be considered and clarified. To design a new construction operation, the designer needs to completely understand the processes, consider all relevant issues, and review all governing criteria. Achieving practical and productive operations for new technologies requires careful and thorough planning. Simulation modeling can be a very effective technique to design construction operations for new technologies. Simulation modeling allows experimenting with many of the factors involved in the operations prior to initial construction. Early construction sequencing can allow testing of many alternatives without expensive installations. Geosynthetics are currently being incorporated in flexible pavement systems to improve their performance. However, geosynthetics must be used in the correct application and installed properly in order to produce good results. One of the newly developed geosynthetics is geocomposite membrane that thought to provide strain energy absorption and a moisture barrier. This research discusses the application of discrete-event simulation (DES) to design and analyze the installation of geocomposite membranes in flexible pavements. Data collected from two test sections at the Virginia Smart Road in Blacksburg, Virginia was used for modeling and analysis. STROBOSCOPE, a programming language designed for modeling complex operations, was used as the simulation engine. The process used in the development of simulation models is discussed. A number of installation alternatives were studied and simulated to examine their practicality and to investigate their productivity, resource utilization, and unit cost.
Degree
thesis:*- Name thesis:degree_name
- Master of Science
- Level thesis:degree_level
- masters
- Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
- Civil Engineering
- Department dc:contributor.department
- Civil Engineering
- Grantor dc:publisher
- Virginia Tech
- Year dc:date.issued
- 2000
Author and committee
dc:creator, dc:contributor.*- Author dc:creator
-
- Wanamakok, Phuwanai
- Chairs dc:contributor.committeechair
-
- Martinez, Julio C.
- Al-Qadi, Imadeddin L.
- Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
-
- Wilkes, John A.
- de la Garza, Jesus M.
Subjects
dc:subject × 6Rights
dc:rights- Statement dc:rights
-
- In Copyright
- Licence dc:rights.uri
- Language dc:language.iso
- en
Identifiers
dc:identifier.*- Dc Identifier Other
- etd-12102000-210030
- OAI identifier oai:identifier
- oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/36040