Engineering Commons^™

Adoption Of Astm A956-06 Leeb Hardness Testing Standard To Rock Engineering Applications, Sasan Ghorbani, Seyed Hadi Hoseinie, Ebrahim Ghasemi, Taghi Sherizadeh

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Leeb dynamic hardness test was originally developed for metallic materials and is now widely used in rock engineering and engineering geology. This study aims to fundamentally investigate the application conditions of the Leeb hardness test in rock engineering because it is a high-precision, fast, nondestructive, and portable method. Therefore, four main limitations of the Leeb method mentioned in ASTM A956-06 have been further analyzed. The important challenges, including scale effect, temperature effect, surface roughness effect, and the effect of physical properties on the Leeb method, have been studied. For this purpose, 33 rock samples with a wide range of …

Strain And Temperature Measurement From Distributed Fiber Optic Sensors In Performance-Based Fire Engineering, Yanping Zhu

Doctoral Dissertations

"Strain and temperature measurement of steel and concrete structures under fires is critical to the understanding of structural performance yet historically challenging due to a significant gap in measurement science. This Ph.D. study characterizes in six parts low-cost distributed fiber optic sensors and applies them to strain, and temperature measurements based on Rayleigh and Brillouin light scattering. The first part aims to quantify the Rayleigh scattering based measurement accuracy of distributed fiber optic sensors under a heating-holding load protocol and characterize the effect of polymer coating on the sensors as the polymer softens and melts at elevated temperatures. The second …

Effect Of Temperature On Early‐Age Properties Of Self‐Consolidating Concrete Equivalent Mortar, Nima Farzadnia, Jing Pan, Kamal Khayat, Eric Wirquin

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this study, the effect of ambient temperature during casting on fresh properties, hydration kinetics, and early‐age compressive strength of self-consolidating concrete (SCC) was evaluated. Concrete equivalent mortars (CEMs) with water‐to‐binder ratios of 0.41 and 0.45 were cast based on SCC mixture designs for building and infrastructure construction and precast applications. The CEMs were prepared at temperatures ranging from 8 to 36°C. Superplasticizer (SP) and air‐entraining agent (AEA) demand were evaluated for the CEM mixtures made with different supplementary cementing material (SCM) and limestone filler types. Test results showed that the ambient temperature can significantly affect the SP and AEA …

Rheological Properties Of Warm Mix Asphalt Binders And Warm Mix Asphalt Binders Containing Polyphosphoric Acid, Jun Liu, Kezhen Yan, Jenny Liu

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents the laboratory investigation of properties of warm mix asphalt (WMA) binders and WMA binders containing polyphosphoric acid (PPA).Two types of warm mix additives were used to produce the WMA binders. Superpave tests were carried out on original and short-term aged binders through the rotational viscometer, the dynamic shear rheometer (DSR), and the bending beam rheometer (BBR). The results indicated that the WMA binders with different warm mix additives showed different viscosity values, however, the addition of PPA remarkably increased the viscosity values of these two kinds of WMA binders used, in the present study, to a similar …

Behavior Of Eb Frp Masonry Bond Under Service Temperature, Zuhair Al-Aljaberi, John J. Myers, K. Chandrashekhara

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The interest in advanced composites in repairing and strengthening infrastructure systems has considerably increased, especially as the application externally bonded (EB) fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) has become more well established. Previous research on bond behavior has focused on impact of durability by considering exposure to harsh environmental conditions and testing the specimens after exposure, rather than testing bond performance during exposure. The influence of directly applying temperature on bond behavior represents an open topic that needs to be investigated in more detail. This study is one of the first studies to investigate the bond behavior when the composite is subjected …

Effects Of Loading Rate On Gas Seepage And Temperature In Coal And Its Potential For Coal-Gas Disaster Early-Warning, Chong Zhang, Xiaofei Liu, Guang Xu, Xiaoran Wang

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The seepage velocity and temperature externally manifest the changing structure, gas desorption and energy release that occurs in coal containing gas failure under loading. By using the system of coal containing gas failure under loading, this paper studies the law of seepage velocity and temperature under different loading rates and at 1.0 MPa confining pressure and 0.5 MPa gas pressure, and combined the on-site results of gas pressure and temperature. The results show that the stress directly affects the seepage velocity and temperature of coal containing gas, and the pressure and content of gas have the most sensitivity to mining …

Strain Monitoring Of Bismaleimide Composites Using Embedded Microcavity Sensor, Amardeep Kaur, Sudharshan Anandan, Lei Yuan, Steve Eugene Watkins, K. Chandrashekhara, Hai Xiao, Nam Phan

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A type of extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer (EFPI) fiber optic sensor, i.e., the microcavity strain sensor, is demonstrated for embedded, high-temperature applications. The sensor is fabricated using a femtosecond (fs) laser. The fs-laser-based fabrication makes the sensor thermally stable to sustain operating temperatures as high as 800 °C. The sensor has low sensitivity toward the temperature as compared to its response toward the applied strain. The performance of the EFPI sensor is tested in an embedded application. The host material is carbon fiber/bismaleimide (BMI) composite laminate that offer thermally stable characteristics at high ambient temperatures. The sensor exhibits highly linear response …

Simultaneous Measurement Of Temperature And Pressure With Cascaded Extrinsic Fabry-Perot Interferometer And Intrinsic Fabry-Perot Interferometer Sensors, Yinan Zhang, Jie Huang, Xinwei Lan, Lei Yuan, Hai Xiao

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents an approach for simultaneous measurement of temperature and pressure using miniaturized fiber inline sensors. The approach utilizes the cascaded optical fiber inline intrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer and extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer as temperature and pressure sensing elements, respectively. A CO₂ laser was used to create a loss between them to balance their reflection power levels. The multiplexed signals were demodulated using a Fast Fourier transform-based wavelength tracking method. Experimental results showed that the sensing system could measure temperature and pressure unambiguously in a pressure range of 0 to 6.895 x 10⁵ Pa and a temperature range from …

Effect Of Crumb Rubber Dissolution On Low-Temperature Performance And Aging Of Asphalt-Rubber Binder, Amir Ghavibazoo, Magdy Abdelrahman

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Asphalt binder plays a critical role in defining the low-temperature performance of asphalt pavement, and, therefore, enhancing its mechanical behavior at low service temperatures through modification always has been of great interest. Crumb rubber modification of asphalt is one of the common practices in the industry. However, the effect of a crumb rubber modifier (CRM) on low-temperature performance of the binder is not well understood. A CRM swells by absorbing the aromat-ics and light molecular components of asphalt at low interaction temperatures (i.e., 160°C) and dissolves at higher interaction temperatures (i.e., 190°C, 220°C). Each of those activities affects the performance …

Femtosecond Laser Micro-Machined Optical Fiber Based Embeddable Strain And Temperature Sensors For Structural Monitoring, Armadeep Kaur

Doctoral Dissertations

"Structural monitoring technology is becoming increasingly important for managing all types of structures. Embedding sensors while constructing new structures or repairing the old ones allows for continual monitoring of structural health thus giving an estimate of remaining utility. Along with being embeddable, miniaturized sensors that are easy to handle are highly sought after in the industry where in-situ monitoring is required in a harsh environment (corrosive atmosphere, high temperatures, high pressure etc.).

This dissertation demonstrates the use of femtosecond laser-fabricated Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) based optical fiber sensors for embedded applications like structural health monitoring. Two types of Fabry-Perot interferometer sensors, …

Microcavity Strain Sensor For High Temperature Applications, Amardeep Kaur, Steve Eugene Watkins, Jie Huang, Lei Yuan, Hai Xiao

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A microcavity extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric (EFPI) fiber-optic sensor is presented for measurement of strain. The EFPI sensor is fabricated by micromachining a cavity on the tip of a standard single-mode fiber with a femtosecond (fs) laser and is then self-enclosed by fusion splicing another piece of single-mode fiber. The fs-laser-based fabrication makes the sensor thermally stable to sustain temperatures as high as 800°C. The sensor exhibits linear performance for a range up to 3700 µε and a low temperature sensitivity of only 0.59 pm/°C through 800°C.

Gas Adsorption In Novel Environments, Including Effects Of Pore Relaxation, W. Milton Cole, Silvina M. Gatica, Hye Young Kim, Angela D. Lueking, Sarmishtha Sircar

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Adsorption experiments have been interpreted frequently with simplified model geometries, such as ideally flat surfaces and slit or cylindrical pores. Recent explorations of unusual environments, such as fullerenes and metal-organic-framework materials, have led to a broadened scope of experimental, theoretical and simulation investigations. This paper reviews a number of such studies undertaken by our group. Among the topics receiving emphasis are these: universality of gas uptake in pores, relaxation of a porous absorbent due to gas uptake and the novel phases of gases on a single nanotube, all of which studies have been motivated by recent experiments.

Increased Performance Of Battery Packs By Active Equalization, Jonathan W. Kimball, Brian T. Kuhn, Philip T. Krein

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Battery packs for most applications are series strings of electrochemical cells. Due to manufacturing variations, temperature differences, and aging, the individual cells perform differently. When a complete pack is charged and discharged as a single two-terminal circuit element, some cells are chronically overcharged, undercharged, or overdischarged, all of which act to reduce cell life. The performance and life of the complete pack is limited by the weakest cell. Many methods have been proposed and explored to mitigate this problem. In the present work, a switched-capacitor converter is shown to be a simple and effective method to maintain equal cell or …

An Autonomous And Adaptable Wireless Device For Flood Monitoring, Valerio Plessi, Filippo Bastianini, Sahra Sedigh

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Wireless devices can be used to monitor and record a broad range of phenomena. Their advantages include ease of installation and maintenance and considerable reduction in wiring costs. The addition of battery power and radio communication to such wireless devices can result in a completely The operating environment of monitoring systems is often hostile, due to temperature fluctuations, humidity, electromagnetic noise, and other interfering phenomena. The system should be able to adapt to changing conditions to maintain dependability in its operations This paper presents the case study of adapting a flood detection device to the environmental threat of submersion.

Modeling And Control Of Re-Entry Heat Transfer Problem Using Neural Networks, Katie Grantham, Radhakant Padhi, S. N. Balakrishnan, Dwight C. Look

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A nonlinear optimal re-entry temperature control problem is solved using single network adaptive critic (SNAC) technique. The nonlinear model developed and used accounts for conduction, convection and radiation at high temperature, represents the dynamics of heat transfer in a cooling fin for an object re-entering the earth's atmosphere. Simulation results demonstrate that the control synthesis technique presented is very effective in obtaining a desired temperature profile over a wide envelope of initial temperature distribution.

Double-Tiered Capacitive Shuttling Method For Balancing Series-Connected Batteries, Andrew Baughman, Mehdi Ferdowsi

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The auto industry is progressing towards hybrid and fully electric vehicles in their future car models. These vehicles need a power plant that is reliable during the lifetime of the car. Battery capacity imbalances stemming from the cell manufacturer, ensuing driving environment, and operational usage affect voltage levels, which must follow adherence to strict limits to ensure the safety of the driver. A variation on an existing method of using a capacitor to shuttle charge from one battery to another to balance series strings of batteries is proposed in this paper. The advancement shown in this paper is to bridge …

Development Of A Program For Numerical Analysis Of Microwave Radio Links Under Different Conditions, M. Can, Sergey Kharkovsky

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Numerical analysis of system power budget is performed for radio link design and transmission planning purposes in cellular networks. The behavior of three different frequencies; 10.5 GHz, 23 GHz and 38 GHz is examined under the influence of such parameters like transmitter power output level, rain rate, fog density, distance, polarization type, antenna radius, temperature, foliage depth and etc. Received power levels are measured, calculated and reported for different radio link types and environmental conditions. A new program is developed in order to carry out system power budget analysis and design better microwave radio links. Measured and calculated values are …

Effect Of Temperature On The Ultimate Strength And Modulus Of Whisker‐Reinforced Ceramics, Douglas R. Carroll, Lokeswarappa R. Dharani

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Whiskers are a very attractive means of reinforcing a ceramic material. It has been shown that the whiskers dramatically improve the ultimate strength and modulus of the materials at room temperature. However, recent studies indicate that at high temperatures the improvement is less pronounced, or there is no improvement at all. In this paper a model is developed to explain why the properties are degraded at high temperature. The parameters which seem most important for high‐temperature performance are the coefficients of thermal expansion and Poisson's ratios for the constituents, the heat treatment temperature, and the coefficient of friction between the …