Experiment Design for Civil Engineering provides guidance to students and practicing civil engineers on how to design a civil engineering experiment that will produce useful and unassailable results. It includes a long list of complete experiment designs that students can perform in the laboratory at most universities and that many consulting engineers can do in corporate laboratories. These experiments also provide a way to evaluate a new design against an existing experiment to determine what information is most appropriate in each section and how to format the data for the most effective outcome. Interpretation of output data is discussed, along with uncertainty, as well as optimal presentation of the data to others.
The content of the first 8 chapters is similar in format to authors' recent title, Experiment Design for Environmental Engineering: Methods and Examples (CRC Press, 2022) and has been revised for civil engineers. This textbook
Fills in the gap in ABET requirements to teach experiment design.
Provides a standardized approach to experiment design that can work for any experiment.
Includes completed experiment designs suitable for college laboratory and professional applications.
Shows how to organize experimental data as it is collected to optimize usefulness.
Provides templates for design of the experiment and for presenting the resulting data to technical and nontechnical audiences or clients.
Author(s): Francis J. Hopcroft, Abigail J. Charest
Publisher: CRC Press
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 421
City: Boca Raton
Cover
Half Title
Title
Copyright
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
Author Biographies
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 How to Design an Engineering Experiment
2.1 Defining the Question to Be Answered
2.2 Defining the Variables Involved in a Question
2.3 Measuring and Controlling the Variables
2.4 Evaluation of Potential Interferences That Can Occur
2.5 Minimizing, Avoiding, or Accounting for the Effects of Interferences
2.6 Sensitivity Analyses of Experimental Data
2.7 Safety Considerations in Experiment Design
2.8 Ethics Considerations in Experiment Design
2.8.1 Ethics in Experimentation – Citations
2.8.2 Ethics in Experimentation – Data
Chapter 3 Sampling Source Media
3.1 Sampling Soil or Other Solids
3.2 Sampling Concrete
3.3 Sampling Water and Other Liquids
3.4 Sampling Air and Other Gases
3.5 Sampling Health and Safety Plans
Chapter 4 Expected Outcomes and Interpretation of Data
4.1 Expected Outcomes
4.2 Interpretation of the Data
4.3 Uncertainty Considerations
4.4 Estimating Future Parameter Values
4.5 Probability
4.5.1 Probability as Basis of Statistics
4.5.2 Estimating Probabilities in Experimentation
4.5.3 Misuse of Probability Data
4.5.4 Number of Data Points Needed
4.5.5 Selective Use of Data
4.5.6 Cause and Effect vs. Correlation
4.6 Risk
Chapter 5 Model Design Methodology
5.1 Discussion
5.2 Model Format
5.3 Experiment Design Format Model
Chapter 6 Laboratory Report
6.1 Conversion of Theory to Experimental Output Data
6.2 Compare and Contrast Experimental Output Data to Existing Literature
6.3 Suggested Laboratory Report Template
Chapter 7 Effective Presentation of the Data to Others
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Presentation of the Presenter
7.2.1 Dress Code
7.2.2 The Meaning of the Dress Code Concepts
7.2.2.1 Business Formal Attire
7.2.2.2 Traditional Business Attire
7.2.2.3 Smart Casual Business Attire
7.2.2.4 Business Casual Attire
7.2.2.5 Casual Business Attire
7.3 Actions at the Podium
7.3.1 Speaking
7.3.2 The Use of a Written Script
7.3.3 The Use of a Microphone
7.3.4 Movements on Stage
7.3.5 Eye Contact
7.3.6 QuestionandAnswer Sessions
7.4 When There Is More than One Presenter Acting as a Team
7.4.1 Introduction
7.4.2 Allocation of Time
7.4.3 Time Utilization
7.4.4 Transitions between Speakers
7.5 Presenting the Data
Chapter 8 Designing Research Experiment Projects
8.1 Research to Assess Soft Roadbed Support Soils
8.2 Research to Develop a Stronger Asphalt Paving Material
8.3 Research Recommendations
Chapter 9 Material and Structural Analysis Experiments
Chapter 10 Concrete Testing Experiments
Chapter 11 Soil Testing Experiments
Chapter 12 Environmental Assessment Experiments
Chapter 13 Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulic Experiments
Appendix
Bibliography
Index
