Engineering Commons^™

Thermal And Mechanical Numerical Modeling Of Extrusion-Based 3d Printed Reinforced Polymers For Selecting Manufacturing Process Parameters, Sunil Bhandari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Extrusion-based 3D printing of thermoplastic polymer composites manufactures parts that have nonhomogenous, orthotropic, and process-dependent macro-scale material properties. As a part of the dissertation, research works were carried out to: • improve the interlayer mechanical properties and reduce the orthotropy, • use experimentally homogenized orthotropic material properties to numerically model the mechanical behavior of the non-homogenous orthotropic 3D printed parts, • create an efficient numerical thermal model to predict the process-dependent thermal history of the 3D printed part, and • aid the manufacturing process by selecting a suitable set of processing parameters based on a simplified sequentially coupled thermomechanical model. …

Modeling The Effects Of Parameter Changes On Heating And Pressure At The Weld Interface And Joint Strength In Friction Bit Joining, Adam Hartly Wagner

Theses and Dissertations

Joining of dissimilar metals is a process that is of interest in many fields, especially the automotive industry where lightweighting of the body structure is important. However, creating strong joints between dissimilar metals can be challenging. Friction bit joining (FBJ) is a solid-state method that uses a consumable bit to create a strong joint between dissimilar metals such as aluminum and steel. The purpose of this research is to gain understanding of how adjusting FBJ parameters affects the heating and pressure at the weld interface using a modeling approach, in order to better understand the bonding process. The questions guiding …

Development Of A Three Degree-Of-Freedom Control Simulation For A Group 3 Large Unmanned Aircraft System, Majka Anna Wilczynski

Theses and Dissertations

Aircraft modeling and simulation has become increasingly important in the aviation world. Simulations allow for safer and more economical training prior to flight testing. In this project, a three degree-of-freedom control simulation coded in a MATLAB environment is used to assess and simulate the dynamic stability of group three unmanned aircraft system. By calculating, evaluating, and simulating the static and dynamic stability derivatives of the aircraft, this project will allow for the estimation of the handling qualities of an unmanned aircraft system. This can help mitigate risks that come along with altering the mass and aerodynamic properties of an aircraft, …

Supply Chain Optimization Of A Local Small Business From The Food-Service Industry Using Simulation Models, Aimee Montalvo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Various supply chain disruptions can cause revenue losses, low productivity, and damaged reputations. Some examples of such disruptions include increased supply costs, labor shortages, pandemics, natural disasters, or transportation delays. For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, several small and medium enterprises (SMEs) suffered greatly from labor shortages, delayed and costly supplies, and decreased demand. In this research, we present a case study of a small local business from the fast-food industry that experienced the loss of employees and delays and analyzed the increased cost of supplies. We created visualization modules with the SMEs supply chain performance measures to see the …

A Testing And Experimenting Environment For Microscopic Traffic Simulation Utilizing Virtual Reality And Augmented Reality, Mahmud Hasan

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Microscopic traffic simulation (MTS) is the emulation of real-world traffic movements in a virtual environment with various traffic entities. Typically, the movements of the vehicles in MTS follow some predefined algorithms, e.g., car-following models, lane changing models, etc. Moreover, existing MTS models only provide a limited capability of two- and/or three-dimensional displays that often restrict the user’s viewpoint to a flat screen. Their downscaled scenes neither provide a realistic representation of the environment nor allow different users to simultaneously experience or interact with the simulation model from different perspectives. These limitations neither allow the traffic engineers to effectively disseminate their …

Approaches To Improve The Execution Time Of A Quantum Network Simulation, Joseph B. Tippit

Theses and Dissertations

Evaluating quantum networks is an expensive and time-consuming task that benefits from simulation. A potential improvement is to utilize GPUs, namely by leveraging NVIDIA's programming framework, CUDA. To avoid performance pitfalls of higher level languages and programming models such as the so called "two language problem," the Julia Programming Language provides the basis for the development effort. This research develops a two module prototype quantum network simulation framework using GPUs and Julia. Performance of the software is measured and compared against other languages such as MATLAB.

Optizimation Of Vaccination Supply Chain Based On Scg In Nanshan District, Zhenning Dong, Shunzhou Huang, Jiajun Chen, Huiqiong Zheng

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: To optimize the vaccination network, inventory strategy and human resource allocation in Nanshan District, Supply Chain Guru's (SCG) network optimization method is used to select 50 alternative stations to decrease the fixed operating cost. SCG's inventory optimization method is used to set inventory strategy for each station, and simulation method is designed to compare total cost of all schemes. To optimize the opening days of vaccination stations, an medical personnel allocation rule is designed, which reduces some stations' opening days to 2 or 3 days and increases some stations' medical personnel. An simulation method is designed to compare the …

Shortcut Nitrogen Removal In Photo-Sequencing Batch Reactor, Experiments, Dynamic Model And Full-Scale Design, Sahand Iman Shayan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nitrogen is one of the essential elements for life; however, inefficient use of nitrogen creates major environmental problems. Nitrogen-rich streams from urban areas, farms, and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) lead to surface and groundwater contamination, resulting in eutrophication, hypoxia, and notable environmental, public health and economic damage. Ammonia is a form of nitrogen that can be created during industrial or biological nitrogen fixation or decomposition of biomass. Anaerobic digesters (ADs) in WWTP generate biogas from collected sludge from primary and secondary clarifiers to achieve energy recovery in the plant. However, sidestream effluent from dewatering AD sludge contains high concentrations of …

Enhancing Serviceability And Resiliency Of Transportation Networks Based On Topological Credentials And Systematic Design Interventions, Md Ashraf Ahmed

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent advancements in network science showed that the topological credentials (i.e., rank of relative importance) of network components (such as nodes and links), carry significant implications as it is critical to know which components contribute the most to the overall network performance. For transportation networks, critical components (roads, bridges) may become inaccessible for adjacent traffic due to day-to-day congestion or external disruptions (i.e., man-made or natural hazards) that significantly reduce the level of service. Hence, topological credentials of critical network components based on their connectivity need to be assessed to enhance the serviceability, i.e., improved travel time experience as well …

Energy Harvesting For Self-Powered Sensors For Smart Transportation Infrastructures, Anil K. Agrawal, Mohsen Amjadian, Hani Nassif

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this research project, an Electromagnetic Energy Harvesting System (EMEHS) is developed for harvesting the kinetic energy of ambient and traffic-induced vibrations and carry out a detailed feasibility study and impacts of such system for application on transportation infrastructures. The proposed EMEHS utilizes the innovative concept of creating array of large number of small permanent magnets through certain optimization criteria to achieve strong and focused magnetic field in a particular orientation. When these magnets are attached to a flexible sub-system and placed close to the copper coil, ambient and traffic-induced vibration of the sub-system induces eddy current in copper the …

Simulation Of Civil Aircraft Takeoff Scenario Based On Mbse, Liangyu Zhao, Junjie Ye, He Qi, Guo Wei, Zhao Yong

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: Aiming at the interactions and flaws of design being difficult to be fully discovered, the requirements being hard to be traced, the early verification of system design being difficult to be realized and so on, a Model-Based System Engineering (MBSE) method is adopted to realize the simulation of civil aircraft take-off scenario. Based on the analysis of civil aircraft takeoff scenario requirements, the civil aircraft takeoff scenario simulation architecture, take-off scenario discrete logic model, and continuous physical simulation model are established. The method of fusing the SysML model and Simulink model and the 3D visualization of simulation data …

Network Modeling Of Hurricane Evacuation Using Data-Driven Demand And Incident-Induced Capacity Loss Models, Yuan Zhu, Kaan Ozbay, Kun Xie, Hong Yang, Ender Foruk Morgul

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The development of a hurricane evacuation simulation model is a crucial task in emergency management and planning. Two major issues affect the reliability of an evacuation model: one is estimations of evacuation traffic based on socioeconomic characteristics, and the other is capacity change and its influence on evacuation outcome due to traffic incidents in the context of hurricanes. Both issues can impact the effectiveness of emergency planning in terms of evacuation order issuance, and evacuation route planning. The proposed research aims to investigate the demand and supply modeling in the context of hurricane evacuations. This methodology created three scenarios for …

Patient Transport In The Time Of Covid-19: Using Health Care Failure Mode And Effect Analysis With Simulation To Test And Modify A Protocol, John Kwock, Jeffrey Holmes, Shelly Chipman, Erin Siebers, Angela Berry, Sonja Orff, Victoria Boutin, Leah Mallory

Journal of Maine Medical Center

Introduction: In March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, an interprofessional, interdisciplinary team at Maine Medical Center used Healthcare Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (HFMEA) and in situ simulation to rapidly identify and mitigate latent safety threats (LST) in patient transport protocols.

Methods: Following HFMEA steps, stakeholders representing a variety of disciplines assembled to address transport of patients with COVID-19. A process map was created to describe the process. With hazard analysis using table-top simulation followed by in situ simulation, we identified, categorized, and scored LSTs. Mitigation strategies were identified during structured debriefing.

Results: Fourteen LSTs were identified in …

Hybrid System Simulation Method Based On Quantized State, Zhihua Li, Jiang De, Hanwu Shen, Zhihua Fan

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: Hybrid system simulation and discontinuity processing have always been the difficulties of the time-discretized integration methods, while Quantized State System (QSS) is a new numerical integration method based on state variable discretization. Aiming at the hybrid systems simulation, a method of QSS+DEVS is proposed. The discrete part of hybrid system is represented as DEVS model, and the continuous part of hybrid system is discretized by QSS, which can also be represented as DEVS model. The simulation model of the whole hybrid system is obtained by coupling the two DEVS models. The accuracy, efficiency and simplicity of the QSS+DEVS method …

Simulation Analysis Of Assessment Method For Missile Accuracy, Shuqing Li, Zhili Zhang, Yumiao Wei, Haitao Wang

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: The missile accuracy of the falling points is one of the important performance indexes of missile systems, so the assessment method is very important. An improved algorithm for missile accuracy assessment is proposed. Accuracy assessment problem is simplified as a hypothesis check for probability circle, and the accuracy difference coefficients are defined to describe the accuracy difference between the real falling points and the expected situation. Based on the probability circle method, an improved risk assessment method is put forward to balance and minimize producer's risk and consumer's risk. According to sequential check method, this risk assessment …

Uncertainties In Internal Pressure Of Oil Pipelines And Implications For The Reliability Analysis, Yue Liu

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The internal pressure is the most important operational load for oil and gas pipelines. The maximum operating pressure (MOP) is the maximum pressure the pipeline is qualified to be operated according to a given standard. In deterministic fitness-for-service (FFS) assessment of in-service pipelines containing flaws such as corrosion defects and cracks, the remaining pressure containment capacity of the pipeline is evaluated and compared with MOP multiplied by a factor of safety to determine if immediate rehabilitation actions for the pipeline are necessary. However, the actual internal pressure of an in-service pipeline is however uncertain and fluctuates with time. Due to …

Power-Over-Tether Unmanned Aerial System Leveraged For Trajectory Influenced Atmospheric Sensing, Daniel Rico

Department of Computer Science and Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The use of unmanned aerial systems (UASs) in agriculture has risen in the past decade and is helping to modernize agriculture. UASs collect and elucidate data previously difficult to obtain and are used to help increase agricultural efficiency and production. Typical commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) UASs are limited by small payloads and short flight times. Such limits inhibit their ability to provide abundant data at multiple spatiotemporal scales. In this thesis, we describe the design and construction of the tethered aircraft unmanned system (TAUS), which is a novel power-over-tether UAS configured for long-term, high throughput atmospheric monitoring with an array of …

Assessing The Impact Of Health Benefits And Carbon Footprint In Student Parking Decisions At A University Campus, Emiliano Ruiz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In the student parking location problem, traditionally, the parking permit cost, the last-mile travel time, and the ease of finding an available parking stall are the only decision criteria driving permit purchases. However, a studentâ??s choice of parking location has associated walking health benefits and sustainability impacts. These impacts are related to the walking distance from the parked vehicle to the final destination on campus, in addition to the location effect on the carbon footprint of a vehicle-trip taken to campus. As such, this Thesis examined a multi-criteria decision approach to a university studentâ??s choice of parking location. This approach …

Nonlinear Model Development And Validation For Ball And Plate Control System, Zachary Richter

Master's Theses

Ball and plate balancing control systems are commonly studied due to the complex dynamics associated with the instability of the system in open-loop. For simplicity, mathematical models describing the ball and plate dynamics are often linearized and the effects of complex motion are assumed to be negligible. These assumptions are rarely backed with evidence or explanations validating the simplified form of the dynamical equations of motion. This thesis focuses on developing a nonlinear model that more accurately defines the dynamics of the system, in order to quantify the error of linear and nonlinear models when compared to a Simscape physical …

Enabling The “Easy Button” For Broad, Parallel Optimization Of Functions Evaluated By Simulation, Andrew Gibson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Java Optimization by Simulation (JOBS) is presented: an open-source, object-oriented Java library designed to enable the study, research, and use of optimization for models evaluated by simulation. JOBS includes several novel design features that make it easy for a simulation modeler, without extensive expertise in optimization or parallel computation, to define an optimization model with deterministic and/or stochastic constraints, choose one or more metaheuristics to solve it and run, using massively parallel function evaluation to reduce wall-clock times.

JOBS is supported by a new language independent, application programming interface (API) for remote simulation model evaluation and a serverless computing environment …

Design And Flight-Path Simulation Of A Dynamic-Soaring Uav, Gladston Joseph

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

We address the development of a dynamic-soaring capable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) optimized for long-duration flight with no on-board power consumption. The UAV’s aerodynamic properties are captured with the integration of variable fidelity aerodynamic analyses. In addition to this, a 6 degree-of-freedom flight simulation environment is designed to include the effects of atmospheric wind conditions. A simple flight control system aids in the development of the dynamic soaring maneuver. A modular design paradigm is adopted for the aircraft dynamics model, which makes it conducive to use the same environment to simulate other aircraft models. Multiple wind-shear models are synthesized to …

Comparative Study Of Nano-Rod And Nano-Sphere Based Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Refractive Index Biosensors, Mariam M. Moussilli M. M. Moussilli, Abdul Rahman El Falou

BAU Journal - Science and Technology

Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) waves generated by the interaction of light with noble metal nanoparticles has been of great interest in recent years due to the high sensitivity of the extinction spectra of these nanoparticles to the medium's surrounding refractive index up to the atomic level.

In this article, we simulate the extinction spectra of noble metal sphere and rod nanoparticles in order to study the effect of the geometrical shape and size of the nanoparticle on the sensitivity and detection accuracy performance parameters of the extinction spectra. We also simulated the response of the sphere and rod nanoparticle's …

Creating Synthetic Satellite Cloud Data Based On Gan Method, Wencong Cheng, Xiaokang Shi, Zhigang Wang

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: To create the synthetic satellite cloud data in the domain of Meteorology, a method based on Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) is proposed. Depending on ability of the nonlinear mapping and the information extraction of raster data with the deep learning network, a deep generative adversarial network model is proposed to extract the corresponding information between the numerical weather prediction(NWP) products and the satellite cloud data, and then the appropriate elements of the NWP product are chosen as the input to synthesize the corresponding satellite cloud data. The experiments are conducted on the re-analysis products of the European Centre …

Low-Cost Device For Laser Phacoemulsification: A Preliminary Study, Mitchell Harrah

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current gold standard of cataract removal surgery is phacoemulsification systems. These are divided based on the type of devices used; both are considered equal but with different delivery modes. These delivery methods are either acoustic or light-based. However, these devices pose two hurdles for impoverished areas: high costs and heavy resource usage. This thesis proposes a novel phacoemulsification system is based on the low-cost, off-shelf laser diodes that implement light-based phacoemulsification of cataracts. The system is tested for viability over two methods: finite element analysis and experimentation on various phantoms. Simulations on the device have occurred on the COMSOL …

The Matrix Revisited: A Critical Assessment Of Virtual Reality Technologies For Modeling, Simulation, And Training, George Demetrius Lecakes

Theses and Dissertations

A convergence of affordable hardware, current events, and decades of research have advanced virtual reality (VR) from the research lab into the commercial marketplace. Since its inception in the 1960s, and over the next three decades, the technology was portrayed as a rarely used, high-end novelty for special applications. Despite the high cost, applications have expanded into defense, education, manufacturing, and medicine. The promise of VR for entertainment arose in the early 1990's and by 2016 several consumer VR platforms were released. With VR now accessible in the home and the isolationist lifestyle adopted due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, …

Development And Prospect Of Simulation Research In China, Xiaogang Qiu, Duan Hong, Xie Xu, Mengna Zhu

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: It is important to treat modeling and simulation (M&S) as a discipline to advance its development. In China, M&S has been researched and applied over 40 years, and is gradually becoming an independent discipline. Modeling and simulating the complex systems are the challenge, however, this also brings grand opportunity for M&S to widen and improve itself. Since 1980s, the M&S community in China has realized the broad applications of M&S, comprehended M&S from multiple perspectives, conducted extensive research on basic questions, and discussed the composition of the basic simulation theory. By summarizing these achievements, the future works that have …

Physically Based Rendering Techniques To Visualize Thin-Film Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics Fluid Simulations, Aditya H. Prasad

Dartmouth College Undergraduate Theses

This thesis introduces a methodology and workflow I developed to visualize smoothed hydrodynamic particle based simulations for the research paper ’Thin-Film Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics Fluid’ (2021), that I co-authored. I introduce a physically based rendering model which allows point cloud simulation data representing thin film fluids and bubbles to be rendered in a photorealistic manner. This includes simulating the optic phenomenon of thin-film interference and rendering the resulting iridescent patterns. The key to the model lies in the implementation of a physically based surface shader that accounts for the interference of infinitely many internally reflected rays in its bidirectional surface …

Observation Of The Evolution Of Hide And Seek Ai, Anthony J. Catelani

Computer Science and Software Engineering

The purpose of this project is to observe the evolution of two artificial agents, a ‘Seeker’ and a ‘Hider’, as they play a simplified version of the game Hide and Seek. These agents will improve through machine learning, and will only be given an understanding of the rules of the game and the ability to navigate through the grid-like space where the game shall be played; they will not be taught or given any strategies, and will be made to learn from a clean slate. Of particular interest is observing the particular playstyle of hider and seeker intelligences as new …

Ultra-High-Energy Neutrino Detection Antenna Simulations, Nicholas C. Garcia

Electrical Engineering

Neutrinos allow researchers to investigate high-energy galactic phenomena, such as supernovae and black holes. Neutrinos interact with their surroundings via the weak nuclear force and therefore, travel unattenuated through space and are not deflected by electromagnetic fields. However, they do rarely interact with other particles. When neutrinos interact with nucleons (protons or neutrons) in a dielectric medium (i.e.: ice sheets), they are detectable through a cone of coherent electromagnetic radiation (Askaryan Radiation) created by the particle shower generated from the neutrino interaction [1]. The Radio Neutrino Observatory in Greenland (RNO-G) detects UHE neutrinos greater than 100 PeV (10¹⁵ eV) …

Simulation Of A Configurable Hybrid Aircraft, Brandon Bartlett

Master's Theses

As the demand for air transportation is projected to increase, the environmental impacts produced by air travel will also increase. In order to counter the environmental impacts while also meeting the demand for air travel, there are goals and research initiatives that aim to develop more efficient aircraft. An emerging technology that supports these goals is the application of hybrid propulsion to aircraft, but there is a challenge in effectively exploring the performance of hybrid aircraft due to the time and money required for safe flight testing and due to the diverse design space of hybrid architectures and components. Therefore, …