Engineering Commons^™

Shock-Tunnel Waveform Analysis, Dave Mclane, John Rathbun

Kaleidoscope

No abstract provided.

A Reversibility Analysis Of Encoding Methods For Spiking Neural Networks, Catherine Johnson, S. Roychowdhury, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

There is much excitement surrounding the idea of using spiking neural networks (SNNs) as the next generation of function-approximating neural networks. However, with the unique mechanism of communication (neural spikes) between neurons comes the challenge of transferring real-world data into the network to process. Many different encoding methods have been developed for SNNs, most temporal and some spatial. This paper analyzes three of them (Poisson rate encoding, Gaussian receptor fields, and a dual-neuron n-bit representation) and tests to see if the information is fully transformed into the spiking patterns. an oft-neglected consideration in encoding for SNNs is whether or not …

Ethane, Ethyne And Carbon Monoxide Concentrations In The Upper Troposphere And Lower Stratosphere From Ace And Geos-Chem: A Comparison Study, G. González Abad, N. D.C. Allen, P. F. Bernath, C. D. Boone, S. D. Mcleod, G. L. Manney, G. C. Toon, C. Carouge, Y. Wang, Shiliang Wu, X

Michigan Tech Publications

Near global upper tropospheric concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO), ethane (C2H6) and ethyne (C2H2) from ACE (Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment) Fourier transform spectrometer on board the Canadian satellite SCISAT-1 are presented and compared with the output from the Chemical Transport Model (CTM) GEOS-Chem. The retrievals of ethane and ethyne from ACE have been improved for this paper by using new sets of microwindows compared with those for previous versions of ACE data. With the improved ethyne retrieval we have been able to produce a near global upper tropospheric distribution of C2H2 from space. Carbon monoxide, ethane and ethyne concentrations retrieved using …

Geotechnique, Physico-Chemical Behaviour And A New Erosion Model For Mine Tailings Under Environmental Loading, Rozalina S. Dimitrova

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Comprehensive geotechnical characterisation of mine tailings is required for the design, construction and safe operation of mine waste management facilities against the large number of potential failure risks. It is important that the characterization is carried out under the stress range and drainage conditions relevant to those encountered in the field.

The present research utilized mine tailings samples from a copper/nickel base-metal mine. Kaolinite and bentonite clays were added to the mine tailings in order to study the effect of clay percentage and clay mineralogy on the behaviour of saturated tailings/clay systems with varying composition. Slurries with moderate or high …

Opportunistic Validation Of Sulfur Dioxide In The Sarychev Peak Volcanic Eruption Cloud, S. Carn, T. M. Lopez

Michigan Tech Publications

We report attempted validation of Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) sulfur dioxide (SO 2) retrievals in the stratospheric volcanic cloud from Sarychev Peak (Kurile Islands) in June 2009, through opportunistic deployment of a ground-based ultraviolet (UV) spectrometer (FLYSPEC) as the volcanic cloud drifted over central Alaska. The volcanic cloud altitude (∼12-14 km) was constrained using coincident CALIPSO lidar observations. By invoking some assumptions about the spatial distribution of SO 2, we derive averages of FLYSPEC vertical SO 2 columns for comparison with OMI SO 2 measurements. Despite limited data, we find minimum OMI-FLYSPEC differences within measurement uncertainties, which support the validity …

Note: Miniature 120-Kv Autonomous Generator Based On Transverse Shock-Wave Depolarization Of Pb(Zr0.52ti0.48)O₃ Ferroelectrics, S. I. Shkuratov, Jason Baird, E. F. Talantsev

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The design of autonomous ultrahigh-voltage generators with no moving metallic parts based on transverse explosive shock wave depolarization of Pb(Zr_0.52Ti_0.48)O₃ (PZT 5248) poled ferroelectrics was explored and studied. It follows from experimental results that the output voltage produced by the shock-wave ferroelectric generators (FEGs) is directly proportional to the number of PZT 5248 elements connected in series. It was demonstrated that miniature FEGs (volume less than 180 cm³) were capable of reliably producing output voltage pulses with amplitudes exceeding 120 kV which is the record reported in open literature.

Sulphur Dioxide As A Volcanic Ash Proxy During The April-May 2010 Eruption Of Eyjafjallajökull Volcano, Iceland, H. E. Thomas, A. J. Prata

Michigan Tech Publications

The volcanic ash cloud from the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in April and May 2010 resulted in unprecedented disruption to air traffic in Western Europe causing significant financial losses and highlighting the importance of efficient volcanic cloud monitoring. The feasibility of using SO2 as a tracer for the ash released during the eruption is investigated here through comparison of ash retrievals from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) with SO2 measurements from a number of infrared and ultraviolet satellite-based sensors. Results demonstrate that the eruption can be divided into an initial ash-rich phase, a lower intensity middle phase …

Electric Breakdown Of Longitudinally Shocked Pb(Zr₀.₅₂Ti₀.₄₈)O₃ Ceramics, S. I. Shkuratov, E. F. Talantsev, Jason Baird

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Electric breakdown of longitudinally-shock-compressed Pb(Zr₀.₅₂Ti₀.₄₈)O₃ (PZT 52/48) ferroelectric ceramics was experimentally investigated. It was found that a dependence of breakdown field strength, E_g, of shocked ferroelectrics on the thickness of the element, d, ranging from 0.65 to 6.5 mm is described by the E_g (d) = γ  · d^-w law that describes the breakdown of dielectrics at ambient conditions. It follows from the experimental results that the tunnel effect is a dominant mechanism of injection of prime electrons in the shocked ferroelectric elements. It was demonstrated that electric breakdown causes significant energy losses in miniature autonomous …

Impacts Of Future Climate Change And Effects Of Biogenic Emissions On Surface Ozone And Particulate Matter Concentrations In The United States, Y. F. Lam, J. S. Fu, S. Wu, L. J. Mickley

Michigan Tech Publications

Simulations of present and future average regional ozone and PM 2.5 concentrations over the United States were performed to investigate the potential impacts of global climate change and emissions on regional air quality using CMAQ. Various emissions and climate conditions with different biogenic emissions and domain resolutions were implemented to study the sensitivity of future air quality trends from the impacts of changing biogenic emissions. A comparison of GEOS-Chem and CMAQ was performed to investigate the effect of downscaling on the prediction of future air quality trends. For ozone, the impacts of global climate change are relatively smaller when compared …

Determination Of Time-And Height-Resolved Volcanic Ash Emissions And Their Use For Quantitative Ash Dispersion Modeling: The 2010 Eyjafjallajökull Eruption, A. Stohl, A. J. Prata, S. Eckhardt, L. Clarisse, A. Durant, S. Henne, N. I. Kristiansen, A. Minikin, U. Schumann, P. Seibert, K. Stebel, H. E. Thomas, T. Thorsteinsson, K. Tørseth, B. Weinzierl

Michigan Tech Publications

The Aprilg-May, 2010 volcanic eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland caused significant economic and social disruption in Europe whilst state of the art measurements and ash dispersion forecasts were heavily criticized by the aviation industry. Here we demonstrate for the first time that large improvements can be made in quantitative predictions of the fate of volcanic ash emissions, by using an inversion scheme that couples a priori source information and the output of a Lagrangian dispersion model with satellite data to estimate the volcanic ash source strength as a function of altitude and time. From the inversion, we obtain a total fine …

The Depolarization Of Pb(Zr0.52ti0.48)O₃ Ferroelectrics By Cylindrical Radially Expanding Shock Waves And Its Utilization For Miniature Pulsed Power, S. I. Shkuratov, Jason Baird, E. F. Talantsev

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The effects of depolarization of Pb(Zr_0.52Ti_0.48)O₃ (PZT 52/48) poled ferroelectrics by cylindrical radially expanding shock waves propagated along and across the polarization vector P₀ were experimentally detected. Miniature (total volume 100 cm³) autonomous generators based on these effects were capable of producing output voltage pulses with amplitudes up to 25 kV and output energies exceeding 1 J.

Fuzzy Controlled Hydraulic Excavator With Model Parameter Uncertainty, Ganesh Kothapalli, Mohammed Hassan

Research outputs 2011

The hydraulic actuated excavator, being a non-linear mobile machine, encounters many uncertainties. There are uncertainties in the hydraulic system in addition to the uncertain nature of the load. The simulation results obtained in this study show that there is a need for intelligent control of such machines and in particular interval type-2 fuzzy controller is most suitable for minimizing the position error of a typical excavator’s bucket under load variations. We consider the model parameter uncertainties such as hydraulic fluid leakage and friction. These are uncertainties which also depend up on the temperature and alter bulk modulus and viscosity of …

Command And Control For Boring System, W. A. Berger, J. A. Carter, Marian Mazurkiewicz, R. M. Pell, R. A. Spalletta

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A system having a number of land units [100, 4000, 5000] is disclosed which operates to efficiently find and create boreholes [5] to one or more underground targets [1]. Each of the land units [100, 4000, 5000] may be remotely controlled from a central command unit [6000]. The land unit also may be self-controlled, or partially controlled by the central command unit [6000]. The system [10] is reconfigurable to reallocate tasks to functional land units [100, 4000, 5000] which were originally allocated to land units which have been destroyed and are now non-functional.

Addressing The Dual Challenges Of Meeting Demand For Minerals And Sustainable Development, R. Larry Grayson

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In recent decades, excellent progress has been made globally in finding mineral resources, extracting them efficiently and effectively, dramatically reducing environmental degradation, and preventing adverse health and safety impacts on workers and stakeholders. The industry has realized tremendous advances in technology and applied science; has met changing and more stringent environmental performance criteria; has made remarkable reductions in fatality, illness, and lost-time accident rates; and has connected better than ever before with the communities in which mining, milling, and smelting are housed. A new era focused on continuous improvement in tackling key sustainable development parameters has come and is intensifying …

Virtual Prototype Modeling And Simulation Of Pipe Wagon Articulating System, Y. Li, Samuel Frimpong, W. Y. Liu

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Virtual prototype of pipe wagon articulating (PWA) system has been developed and simulated based on the kinematics and dynamics of machinery and Automatic Dynamic Analysis of Mechanical Systems (ADAMS) software. It has been integrated with real-time three dimensional (3-D) system simulations for detailed and responsive interaction with dynamic virtual environments. By using this virtual model, the conceptual design examination and performance analysis of the PWA system have been realized dynamically in virtual laboratory. System dynamic force, displacement and tension of pipe have been measured through verifying this 3- D virtual prototype. By comparing the static tension and dynamic tension of …

Pressed Powdered Titanium And Aluminum Conical Shaped Charge Penetration Of Geological Targets, Dominique John Nolan

Masters Theses

"Conical Shaped Charge penetration into rock is dependent on the physical characteristics of the rock itself and the design and composition of the shaped charge conducting the work. This study looks at the effects of a non-typical conical shaped charge and its penetration into four different rock targets. The shaped charge is made of a liner, which is not a typical solid but instead is a pressed powdered metallic compound of Titanium (Ti) and Aluminum (AI).

The study presents the raw data from testing against rock targets that range in density, uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), tensile strength, hardness scales, and …

Efficient Cable Shovel Excavation In Surface Mines, Kwame Awuah-Offei, Samuel Frimpong

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The cable shovel is widely used in surface mining. High operating and ownership costs necessitate efficient use of the cable shovel. Operator practices have long been suspected to contribute towards the inefficient use of the shovel. Crowd arm and hoist rope speeds are key measures of operator practices. the objective of this work is to find the crowd arm and hoist rope speeds for optimal shovel performance for given initial conditions and material properties. Shovel kinematics and dynamic modeling, using shovel geometry and the simultaneous constraint method, respectively, have been employed to build models of the excavation process. Dynamic models …

Development Of A Waterjet System For Direct Delivery Of Granular Iron And Activated Carbon To Remediate Contaminated Aqueous Sediments, Gavin H.R. Risley, Andrew Curtis Elmore, Joel Gerard Burken, Grzegorz (Greg) Galecki

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

While the Techniques and Technologies Associated with Contaminated Sediment Remediation Are Relatively Mature, There Are Several Issues Associated with These Practices that Make Them Unattractive. the Inability of Currently Used Mechanical Mixing Implements to Place Amendments in Aqueous Environments and their Intrusive Behavior toward Benthic Communities Are Just Two Examples of a Necessity for an Improved Delivery Method. Waterjets May Be a Viable Option for Placement of Particulate Remediation Amendments, Such as Activated Carbon and Granular Iron, at Depth. a Custom Waterjet Nozzle and Injection System Has Been Fabricated by the Authors to Examine This Delivery Concept. the Developed Injection …

Diesel Particulate Matter Dispersion Analysis In Underground Metal/Nonmetal Mines Using Computational Fluid Dynamics, Yi Zheng

Doctoral Dissertations

"Diesel Particulate Matter (DPM) is a natural by-product from operating diesel engines. Since diesel power is a major source of energy for mining operations today, the adverse health effects of DPM are of a great concern. To thoroughly resolve DPM problems, it is critical that DPM propagation characteristics be understood to arrive at a sensible and practical method for addressing DPM-related issues. To achieve this, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method is used to simulate DPM dispersion and to predict its concentration distribution. Industrial field studies were reconstructed to evaluate the possibility of different CFD models. Experiments were also carried …

The Effects Select Physical Parameters Have On An Explosively Formed Projectile's Performance, Phillip R. Mulligan

Masters Theses

"Identifying how changes in the physical parameters of an Explosively Formed Projectile (EFP) affect its performance is crucial in determining what physical parameters could be changed to achieve a desired performance. This research analyzes five of the physical parameters of an EFP, similar to an Iranian design (Worsey, 2009), and the effects on performance. The five physical parameters selected for this research were charge weight, confining geometry, flyer thickness, flyer curvature, and explosives-type. Eighteen different EFP designs were used to test the penetration, measured velocity, production of a dominant projectile, and kinetic energy of these five physical parameters. Of the …

Impact Effects Of Explosively Formed Projectiles On Normal And High Strength Concrete, Laurin Ashley Bookout

Masters Theses

"The ability to quickly estimate the damage that a projectile will do to a structure is highly desired for structures that will be required to resist threats of this nature. There are several formulas for concrete penetration due to projectile impact that are based on empirical data. However, there is a lack of publicly available data for projectile impacts with striking velocities that exceed 1 km/s and have weights greater than a few grams. This research is intended to expand the available data on explosively formed projectile impacts and determine which, if any, of the existing equations can be used …

Characterizing Formation Dredgeability For Clamshell Dredge, Bismark Osei

Masters Theses

"The lack of metrics to assess clamshell dredge formation dredgeability limits the ability of engineers to predict the dredgeability of compact material and increases the risks associated with clamshell selection. Research is, therefore, necessary to increase our understanding of clamshell dredgeability assessment by evaluating possible metrics that will allow the operator to select the optimal clamshell for the operation. Work done and motor energy are possible dredgeability metrics that can be estimated using micro-processor based machine monitoring. The objective of this work is to test the hypotheses that: (i) work done by the pistons during dredging, by a hydraulically actuated …