Craig Quadrato - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Craig Quadrato

Journal of Bridge Engineering, Apr 1, 2014

I would like to thank my dissertation committee for all the support that sustained me throughout ... more I would like to thank my dissertation committee for all the support that sustained me throughout this research study. Dr. Helwig's guidance formed the cornerstone of my graduate experience and will continue into the rest of my academic career. Dr. Engelhardt's insight and experience into structural analysis, testing, and finite element modeling made the project successful beyond my wildest expectations. Dr. Frank's extensive bridge engineering and laboratory testing knowledge saved at least a year's worth of searching for the right answer. Dr. Williamson's finite element modeling experience proved to be the key to getting the model to match the laboratory results so closely. Dr. Liechti's mentorship in experimental methods gave me the experimental background I sorely lacked to perform the laboratory testing required. The Staff and Faculty of the Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratories at The University of Texas at Austin were absolutely critical in performing the connection and large scale girder testing. Blake Stasney, Dennis Fillip, Andrew Valentine, Mike Wason, and Eric Schell gave me the freedom to work, guidance when needed, and kept me safe from myself. Without them, the testing would not have happened. Also, the "platoon" of other students that worked on the project was invaluable to its completion. Thanks to

Building Information Modeling (BIM) developed into a prominent field of knowledge and practice in... more Building Information Modeling (BIM) developed into a prominent field of knowledge and practice in the Architect/Engineering/Construction (AEC) profession over the past decade. As this field emerged in both academia and industry, increasingly viewed as critical for significant practice, the state of the art became more clearly defined. As the field matures, the door opens for the effective integration of BIM at the undergraduate civil engineering program level. Some universities have taken the approach of addressing this new body of knowledge via seminar sessions, in addition to the standard academic load, while others have addressed the need with the development of a specific course devoted solely to BIM. The seminar approach evolved early when the topic was new. This approach is not as comprehensive and consequently not as demanding a commitment for both students and faculty alike. The alternative of creating an additional course adds BIM to the list of compulsory or elective cours...

Girder end twist in straight skewed steel girder bridges presents significant challenges during b... more Girder end twist in straight skewed steel girder bridges presents significant challenges during bridge erection. The amount of twist at the end of a skewed girder is difficult to predict yet must be accounted for in erection planning to facilitate the fit-up of end cross frames and to achieve a vertical web under the specified loading condition. Through the use of large scale laboratory experiments this paper investigates the sources of end twist including skew and stability effects. The causes of end twist restraint are considered including the stiffness of the end cross frames and tipping restraint provided by the bearing.

The standard analytical equations for elastic and inelastic lateral-torsional buckling assume a c... more The standard analytical equations for elastic and inelastic lateral-torsional buckling assume a connection that permits rotation about the strong axis (as well as warping), but prevents twist about the longitudinal axis. The plate stiffener, commonly called a shear tab, is idealized as such a connection. In this paper, the influence of plate stiffener geometry on the lateral-torsional buckling capacities of various wide-flange beams is studied, using high-fidelity computer simulation. Preliminary results indicate that plate stiffener geometries have a significant effect on beam LTB capacity

2004 Annual Conference Proceedings

Most new civil engineering faculty are hired with the presumption that they know how to teach. Ho... more Most new civil engineering faculty are hired with the presumption that they know how to teach. However, the usual extent of their formal faculty training is occasionally filling in for their faculty advisor while in graduate school. At West Point, we could claim that since our new faculty trained soldiers every day prior to going to graduate school, there is no need to waste valuable time and resources on formal faculty training. But, is that enough? At West Point, that answer is a resounding no! Everyone can improve their performance with proper training, but especially anyone doing something for the first time-like new teachers! Every department at West Point has some form of instructor summer training for their new faculty. The training programs range from two to six weeks with all programs having some type of practice teaching sessions. Even with the formal training programs, United States Military Academy (USMA) new faculty are expected to continue to learn a lot about the basics of leading classroom instruction throughout their first and second semesters of teaching. However, the faculty training gives our new instructors a theoretical foundation, and tangible examples as well as inclass experience prior to their first day in front of students. The experience also provides our new instructors a much higher maturity and experience level before the first semester begins and prevents on-the-job training from interfering with the students' education. The Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering (CME) ensures that their new faculty are prepared to teach by administering an in-depth six-week training program. New faculty are so well prepared that students rarely can tell that they are brand new faculty teaching their first semester. This paper will describe the CME faculty training program that effectively prepares teachers to actively engage students in the learning process to increase their success. We will present the integrated schedule, program assessment, and an in-depth look at the key components-presentation of teaching pedagogy, veteran classes, new faculty practice classes, class assessments for both veteran and new faculty, and administrative classes that help smooth new faculty transition into the department. We will also highlight a one-week course for those schools that are not able to devote time to train their own faculty. We will assess the CME faculty training program's effectiveness both through the comments of those new instructors who have participated in the program as well as comparison of their student ratings to other instructors at the USMA. Through this assessment, we will show whether the faculty training program is an effective use of department resources, as well as where it has been most effective in impacting the West Point educational experience.

2003 Annual Conference Proceedings

ABET criteria, emergency response and prevention, and an ever increasing demand for impacting the... more ABET criteria, emergency response and prevention, and an ever increasing demand for impacting the production schedule is accelerating the need for engineers to become broad-based leaders instead of just highly trained technicians. In order to prepare engineering students for such an environment, design courses are more routinely requiring students to complete openended, real-life design problems. Such problems require a different grading process than those that have an easily defined solution. This paper explains how, through the use of a blended criteria and norm based assessment and evaluation process, to clearly communicate standards and outcomes, fairly grade dissimilar designs, and effectively encourage continuous improvement of design products. Evidence of these outcomes will be assessed through the statistical analysis of student feedback from the United States Military Academy.

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings

Building Information Modeling (BIM) developed into a prominent field of knowledge and practice in... more Building Information Modeling (BIM) developed into a prominent field of knowledge and practice in the Architect/Engineering/Construction (AEC) profession over the past decade. As this field emerged in both academia and industry, increasingly viewed as critical for significant practice, the state of the art became more clearly defined. As the field matures, the door opens for the effective integration of BIM at the undergraduate civil engineering program level. Some universities have taken the approach of addressing this new body of knowledge via seminar sessions, in addition to the standard academic load, while others have addressed the need with the development of a specific course devoted solely to BIM. The seminar approach evolved early when the topic was new. This approach is not as comprehensive and consequently not as demanding a commitment for both students and faculty alike. The alternative of creating an additional course adds BIM to the list of compulsory or elective courses and offers the opportunity for in depth learning on the topic. This provides a significant focus on the topic and builds on prior knowledge, but requires an additional course load for both students and faculty; the new course results in treatment of BIM as a separate specialty rather than a method to connect engineering disciplines. A third approach is possible now that time allowed BIM concepts to become more standardized is to integrate BIM fundamentals throughout the complementary courses in an undergraduate civil engineering program. Integration creates the advantage of directly linking BIM to work in existing courses and highlights BIM in its normal state as a condition of the engineering environment rather than a separate subject. And while uniting coursework in a common BIM software platform offers significant advantages from a program perspective, simply using consistent BIM concepts in courses may also have a significantly positive effect on the undergraduate experience, specifically in capstone design courses. An initial implementation of this integrated approach is presented and evaluated in this paper based on the experiences in the civil engineering program at the United States Military Academy.

Structures Congress 2009, 2009

This report documents a research investigation on connection details and bracing layouts for stab... more This report documents a research investigation on connection details and bracing layouts for stability bracing of steel bridges with skewed supports. Cross-frames and diaphragms play an important role in stabilizing steel girders, particularly during construction. The commonly used bent plate connection between skewed braces and steel girders can introduce flexibility that can have detrimental effects on the bracing behavior. An alternative detail investigated in this study is a split pipe stiffener used to connect cross-frames to girders at a skew. The split pipe stiffener allows perpendicular connections to the cross-frame connection tab, regardless of the skew angle. The split pipe provides a stiffer connection between the cross-frame and the girder. More importantly, the split pipe stiffener increases the torsional stiffness of the girder by introducing substantial warping restraint. This increases the lateral torsional buckling capacity of the girder and allows the first line of intermediate cross-frames to be moved farther from the support. Overall, the increase in girder torsional stiffness and buckling capacity that results from the use of the split pipe stiffener will enhance the safety of the girder at all stages of construction: during transportation, lifting, erection, and placement of the concrete deck. This study also examined layout patterns for intermediate cross-frames in skewed bridges. Results showed that staggering the intermediate cross-frames reduces live load induced forces in the cross-frame members and mitigates the potential for associated fatigue cracking. This report also provides design recommendations for the split pipe stiffener and provides a procedure for computing the buckling capacity of girders with split pipe stiffeners.

Journal of Bridge Engineering, 2014

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2010

Cross frames and diaphragms play an important role in stabilizing straight steel girders. Commonl... more Cross frames and diaphragms play an important role in stabilizing straight steel girders. Commonly used connections between these braces and the steel girders can introduce flexibility, which can have detrimental effects on the bracing behavior, particularly on bridges with skewed supports. This paper documents a research investigation sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation on connection details for stability bracing in steel bridges with skewed supports. One goal of the study is to propose an improved connection method. One detail being investigated is a round half-pipe stiffener connected to the top and bottom flanges. The round stiffener allows perpendicular connections to the cross-frame connection tab, regardless of the skew angle. Additionally, there are substantial structural improvements when the tubular stiffener is used. Fastening the tubular stiffener to the flanges provides a significant increase in the warping stiffness of the cross section at the support. ...

2002 Annual Conference, Sep 3, 2020

To my wife and best friend Kristi for all your undying love, enduring encouragement and unyieldin... more To my wife and best friend Kristi for all your undying love, enduring encouragement and unyielding support.

Structures Congress 2009, 2009

Most new faculty are hired with the presumption that they know how to teach. However, the usual e... more Most new faculty are hired with the presumption that they know how to teach. However, the usual extent of their formal faculty training is occasionally filling in for their faculty advisor in graduate school. At West Point, we could attempt to avoid the time and resources necessary for formal faculty training by claiming that our faculty are already trained teachers since they train soldiers every day prior to going to graduate school. But, is that enough? At West Point, that answer is no! Every department at West Point has some form of instructor summer training for new faculty. The training programs range from two to six weeks with all programs having some type of practice teaching sessions. Even with the formal training programs, United States Military Academy (USMA) new faculty are expected to learn a lot about the basics of leading classroom instruction throughout their first and second semesters of teaching. However, the faculty training gives our new instructors a theoretical...

Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, 2005

Journal of Bridge Engineering, 2014

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2010

Journal of Bridge Engineering, Apr 1, 2014

I would like to thank my dissertation committee for all the support that sustained me throughout ... more I would like to thank my dissertation committee for all the support that sustained me throughout this research study. Dr. Helwig's guidance formed the cornerstone of my graduate experience and will continue into the rest of my academic career. Dr. Engelhardt's insight and experience into structural analysis, testing, and finite element modeling made the project successful beyond my wildest expectations. Dr. Frank's extensive bridge engineering and laboratory testing knowledge saved at least a year's worth of searching for the right answer. Dr. Williamson's finite element modeling experience proved to be the key to getting the model to match the laboratory results so closely. Dr. Liechti's mentorship in experimental methods gave me the experimental background I sorely lacked to perform the laboratory testing required. The Staff and Faculty of the Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratories at The University of Texas at Austin were absolutely critical in performing the connection and large scale girder testing. Blake Stasney, Dennis Fillip, Andrew Valentine, Mike Wason, and Eric Schell gave me the freedom to work, guidance when needed, and kept me safe from myself. Without them, the testing would not have happened. Also, the "platoon" of other students that worked on the project was invaluable to its completion. Thanks to

Building Information Modeling (BIM) developed into a prominent field of knowledge and practice in... more Building Information Modeling (BIM) developed into a prominent field of knowledge and practice in the Architect/Engineering/Construction (AEC) profession over the past decade. As this field emerged in both academia and industry, increasingly viewed as critical for significant practice, the state of the art became more clearly defined. As the field matures, the door opens for the effective integration of BIM at the undergraduate civil engineering program level. Some universities have taken the approach of addressing this new body of knowledge via seminar sessions, in addition to the standard academic load, while others have addressed the need with the development of a specific course devoted solely to BIM. The seminar approach evolved early when the topic was new. This approach is not as comprehensive and consequently not as demanding a commitment for both students and faculty alike. The alternative of creating an additional course adds BIM to the list of compulsory or elective cours...

Girder end twist in straight skewed steel girder bridges presents significant challenges during b... more Girder end twist in straight skewed steel girder bridges presents significant challenges during bridge erection. The amount of twist at the end of a skewed girder is difficult to predict yet must be accounted for in erection planning to facilitate the fit-up of end cross frames and to achieve a vertical web under the specified loading condition. Through the use of large scale laboratory experiments this paper investigates the sources of end twist including skew and stability effects. The causes of end twist restraint are considered including the stiffness of the end cross frames and tipping restraint provided by the bearing.

The standard analytical equations for elastic and inelastic lateral-torsional buckling assume a c... more The standard analytical equations for elastic and inelastic lateral-torsional buckling assume a connection that permits rotation about the strong axis (as well as warping), but prevents twist about the longitudinal axis. The plate stiffener, commonly called a shear tab, is idealized as such a connection. In this paper, the influence of plate stiffener geometry on the lateral-torsional buckling capacities of various wide-flange beams is studied, using high-fidelity computer simulation. Preliminary results indicate that plate stiffener geometries have a significant effect on beam LTB capacity

2004 Annual Conference Proceedings

Most new civil engineering faculty are hired with the presumption that they know how to teach. Ho... more Most new civil engineering faculty are hired with the presumption that they know how to teach. However, the usual extent of their formal faculty training is occasionally filling in for their faculty advisor while in graduate school. At West Point, we could claim that since our new faculty trained soldiers every day prior to going to graduate school, there is no need to waste valuable time and resources on formal faculty training. But, is that enough? At West Point, that answer is a resounding no! Everyone can improve their performance with proper training, but especially anyone doing something for the first time-like new teachers! Every department at West Point has some form of instructor summer training for their new faculty. The training programs range from two to six weeks with all programs having some type of practice teaching sessions. Even with the formal training programs, United States Military Academy (USMA) new faculty are expected to continue to learn a lot about the basics of leading classroom instruction throughout their first and second semesters of teaching. However, the faculty training gives our new instructors a theoretical foundation, and tangible examples as well as inclass experience prior to their first day in front of students. The experience also provides our new instructors a much higher maturity and experience level before the first semester begins and prevents on-the-job training from interfering with the students' education. The Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering (CME) ensures that their new faculty are prepared to teach by administering an in-depth six-week training program. New faculty are so well prepared that students rarely can tell that they are brand new faculty teaching their first semester. This paper will describe the CME faculty training program that effectively prepares teachers to actively engage students in the learning process to increase their success. We will present the integrated schedule, program assessment, and an in-depth look at the key components-presentation of teaching pedagogy, veteran classes, new faculty practice classes, class assessments for both veteran and new faculty, and administrative classes that help smooth new faculty transition into the department. We will also highlight a one-week course for those schools that are not able to devote time to train their own faculty. We will assess the CME faculty training program's effectiveness both through the comments of those new instructors who have participated in the program as well as comparison of their student ratings to other instructors at the USMA. Through this assessment, we will show whether the faculty training program is an effective use of department resources, as well as where it has been most effective in impacting the West Point educational experience.

2003 Annual Conference Proceedings

ABET criteria, emergency response and prevention, and an ever increasing demand for impacting the... more ABET criteria, emergency response and prevention, and an ever increasing demand for impacting the production schedule is accelerating the need for engineers to become broad-based leaders instead of just highly trained technicians. In order to prepare engineering students for such an environment, design courses are more routinely requiring students to complete openended, real-life design problems. Such problems require a different grading process than those that have an easily defined solution. This paper explains how, through the use of a blended criteria and norm based assessment and evaluation process, to clearly communicate standards and outcomes, fairly grade dissimilar designs, and effectively encourage continuous improvement of design products. Evidence of these outcomes will be assessed through the statistical analysis of student feedback from the United States Military Academy.

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings

Building Information Modeling (BIM) developed into a prominent field of knowledge and practice in... more Building Information Modeling (BIM) developed into a prominent field of knowledge and practice in the Architect/Engineering/Construction (AEC) profession over the past decade. As this field emerged in both academia and industry, increasingly viewed as critical for significant practice, the state of the art became more clearly defined. As the field matures, the door opens for the effective integration of BIM at the undergraduate civil engineering program level. Some universities have taken the approach of addressing this new body of knowledge via seminar sessions, in addition to the standard academic load, while others have addressed the need with the development of a specific course devoted solely to BIM. The seminar approach evolved early when the topic was new. This approach is not as comprehensive and consequently not as demanding a commitment for both students and faculty alike. The alternative of creating an additional course adds BIM to the list of compulsory or elective courses and offers the opportunity for in depth learning on the topic. This provides a significant focus on the topic and builds on prior knowledge, but requires an additional course load for both students and faculty; the new course results in treatment of BIM as a separate specialty rather than a method to connect engineering disciplines. A third approach is possible now that time allowed BIM concepts to become more standardized is to integrate BIM fundamentals throughout the complementary courses in an undergraduate civil engineering program. Integration creates the advantage of directly linking BIM to work in existing courses and highlights BIM in its normal state as a condition of the engineering environment rather than a separate subject. And while uniting coursework in a common BIM software platform offers significant advantages from a program perspective, simply using consistent BIM concepts in courses may also have a significantly positive effect on the undergraduate experience, specifically in capstone design courses. An initial implementation of this integrated approach is presented and evaluated in this paper based on the experiences in the civil engineering program at the United States Military Academy.

Structures Congress 2009, 2009

This report documents a research investigation on connection details and bracing layouts for stab... more This report documents a research investigation on connection details and bracing layouts for stability bracing of steel bridges with skewed supports. Cross-frames and diaphragms play an important role in stabilizing steel girders, particularly during construction. The commonly used bent plate connection between skewed braces and steel girders can introduce flexibility that can have detrimental effects on the bracing behavior. An alternative detail investigated in this study is a split pipe stiffener used to connect cross-frames to girders at a skew. The split pipe stiffener allows perpendicular connections to the cross-frame connection tab, regardless of the skew angle. The split pipe provides a stiffer connection between the cross-frame and the girder. More importantly, the split pipe stiffener increases the torsional stiffness of the girder by introducing substantial warping restraint. This increases the lateral torsional buckling capacity of the girder and allows the first line of intermediate cross-frames to be moved farther from the support. Overall, the increase in girder torsional stiffness and buckling capacity that results from the use of the split pipe stiffener will enhance the safety of the girder at all stages of construction: during transportation, lifting, erection, and placement of the concrete deck. This study also examined layout patterns for intermediate cross-frames in skewed bridges. Results showed that staggering the intermediate cross-frames reduces live load induced forces in the cross-frame members and mitigates the potential for associated fatigue cracking. This report also provides design recommendations for the split pipe stiffener and provides a procedure for computing the buckling capacity of girders with split pipe stiffeners.

Journal of Bridge Engineering, 2014

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2010

Cross frames and diaphragms play an important role in stabilizing straight steel girders. Commonl... more Cross frames and diaphragms play an important role in stabilizing straight steel girders. Commonly used connections between these braces and the steel girders can introduce flexibility, which can have detrimental effects on the bracing behavior, particularly on bridges with skewed supports. This paper documents a research investigation sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation on connection details for stability bracing in steel bridges with skewed supports. One goal of the study is to propose an improved connection method. One detail being investigated is a round half-pipe stiffener connected to the top and bottom flanges. The round stiffener allows perpendicular connections to the cross-frame connection tab, regardless of the skew angle. Additionally, there are substantial structural improvements when the tubular stiffener is used. Fastening the tubular stiffener to the flanges provides a significant increase in the warping stiffness of the cross section at the support. ...

2002 Annual Conference, Sep 3, 2020

To my wife and best friend Kristi for all your undying love, enduring encouragement and unyieldin... more To my wife and best friend Kristi for all your undying love, enduring encouragement and unyielding support.

Structures Congress 2009, 2009

Most new faculty are hired with the presumption that they know how to teach. However, the usual e... more Most new faculty are hired with the presumption that they know how to teach. However, the usual extent of their formal faculty training is occasionally filling in for their faculty advisor in graduate school. At West Point, we could attempt to avoid the time and resources necessary for formal faculty training by claiming that our faculty are already trained teachers since they train soldiers every day prior to going to graduate school. But, is that enough? At West Point, that answer is no! Every department at West Point has some form of instructor summer training for new faculty. The training programs range from two to six weeks with all programs having some type of practice teaching sessions. Even with the formal training programs, United States Military Academy (USMA) new faculty are expected to learn a lot about the basics of leading classroom instruction throughout their first and second semesters of teaching. However, the faculty training gives our new instructors a theoretical...

Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, 2005

Journal of Bridge Engineering, 2014

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2010