Civil Engineering
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Evaluation of using local information from donor catchments to improve performance of selected deterministic and empirical design flood estimation methods in South Africa.
(2021)There are a number of design flood estimation methods routinely used in South Africa. Flood Frequency Analysis (FFA) remains the preferred technique in instances where adequate records of observed data are available. ... -
Building a framework for the sustainable African city of the future.
(2021)The increase in rural to urban migration rates have resulted in the rapid urbanization and uncontrolled growth of modern day cities. This trend is expected to continue in the coming years, thereby increasing the demand for ... -
Development of a universal water quality index and water quality variability model for South African river catchments.
(2020)The assessment of water quality has turned to be an ultimate goal for most water resource and environmental stakeholders, with ever-increasing global consideration. Against this background, various tools and water quality ... -
A life cycle analysis for the application of decentralised sanitation technologies at Newlands Mashu in the Ethekwini Municipality.
(2020)Safe sanitation is a privilege and in many developing countries sanitation provision is an ongoing major issue. To meet the growing sanitation demands of developed and developing countries around the world, various sanitation ... -
Finite element analysis on the behaviour of multi-storey steel frame with concrete slabs against progressive collapse under fire conditions.
(2020)This research was conducted to study the behaviour of a multi-storey steel frame with concrete slabs against progressive collapse under fire conditions. An implicit coupled thermomechanical analysis was executed using a ... -
A static and dynamic finite element analysis of unreinforced masonry walls.
(2020)This dissertation presents a numerical study of the structural behavior of unreinforced masonry walls. The study involves creating and testing computational models that simulate the behavior of unreinforced masonry walls ... -
Weight optimization for hybrid, multi-scale CNT/fibre reinforced composite laminates.
(2021)In this study, an investigation on an optimal lightweight design of a 3-phase CNT/fibre reinforced nanocomposite plate was conducted, subject to a frequency constraint. The design variables for the optimization process ... -
A comparative analysis of waste to energy scenarios to achieve sustainable smart mobility in the Durban Aerotropolis.
(2021)The aim of this dissertation was to develop a multi-criteria decision making tool which could assist Transport Engineers at the eThekwini Municipality to decide which bus propulsion technology to select for Line C8 of the ... -
Investigation of XBeach cross-shore capacity under fixed model parameters.
(2020)An accurate, computationally efficient shoreline model is fundamental to understanding long term shoreline behaviour. Currently, one-line models can be used to perform this but are limited to either cross-shore or alongshore ... -
A comparison of the design approach recommended in the South African national standard for a reinforced soil wall with a finite element design to identify an opportunity to optimise the design.
(2019)Reinforced soil structures are used extensively for retaining wall applications in South Africa, with the design methodology recommended within the civil engineering fraternity as specified in the design code SANS 8006-1:2018, ... -
Effect of rainfall on function service quality deterioration of dark roadways and its implication for stopping sight distance.
(2019)Driving in the rain at night is challenging and more so if the roadway has no light. This study aims to ascertain whether rainy dark roadways would have significant influence on functional service quality reduction, and ... -
Optimization of the natural frequency of hybrid, multi-scale graphene/fibre reinforced nanocomposite laminates.
(2020)The optimal solution of the natural vibration problem is investigated in this thesis, for a hybrid, multi-scale graphene/fibre reinforced composite laminate plate. Although several research outputs have been published on ... -
The efficacy of silver/copper nanoparticles in biofilm control on water supply pipeline materials.
(2019)Biofilms are microorganisms that inhabit inside a matrix made mainly of exopolysaccharides that are secreted from the micriobual consortia. Silver and copper ions efficacies have been proven in vitro, but, Huang, et al., ... -
Anaerobic digestion of energy crop (cassava)
(2019)Global energy demand is on the rise due to continuous increases in population, economic growth, and energy usage. Methane production through anaerobic digestion of organic materials provides a resourceful carrier of ... -
The analysis of connected back to back mechanically stabilised earth walls.
(2019)Back to back mechanically stabilised earth walls (MSEW’s) are designed independently as there is a lack of design guidance in the British Standard - Code of practice for strengthened/reinforced soils and other fills ... -
Investigation of the structural response of the groot Olifants River bridge to seismic excitation.
(2019)South African freight railway owner (Transnet fright rail) has over 5000 bridges servicing its railway network. Majority of those bridges are deemed to have exceeded their proposed design lives and cannot support the ... -
Development of a sustainable evolutionary-inspired artificial intelligent system for municipal water demand modelling.
(2020)This study presents the development of a differential evolution (DE)-inspired artificial neural network (ANN) that incorporates climate and socioeconomic information for a more accurate and reliable water ... -
An investigation into the optimisation of small scale anaerobic digestion process systems for rural south Africa.
(2020)South Africa’s rural communities have been historically characterised by persistent service delivery challenges, including: lack of waste management services, poor access to reliable sanitation systems, and inconsistent ... -
Development of ‘green’ rigid pavements incorporating recyclable rubber and paper mill products.
(2019)Natural aggregate resources used as conventional fillers in concrete production are constantly diminishing. Several studies have suggested that there will be a lot of pollution in the degradation of waste rubber products. ...