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2012

Simulation

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Articles 1 - 17 of 17

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

A Simulation-Based Decision Support System To Model Complex Demand Driven Heathcare Facilities, Amr Arisha, Michael Thorwarth Dec 2012

A Simulation-Based Decision Support System To Model Complex Demand Driven Heathcare Facilities, Amr Arisha, Michael Thorwarth

Conference papers

Simulating healthcare processes is a sophisticated endeavor. Treatment processes and patient arrival patterns differ significantly in their statistical attributes and implicate a high degree of variability. In addition, there are several types of interconnected processes of medical staff involved that accompany a patient’s journey through the healthcare facility. Replicating this behavior with process flow models in a discrete event simulation model is highly complex and therefore difficult to create while maintaining a high degree of precision. A framework is thus introduced which delivers an algorithm that allows to implement Multiple Participant Pathway Modeling (MPPM) under the consideration of Flexible Resource …


Capacity Planning For Elderly Care In Ireland Using Simluation Modeling, Mohamed Ragab, Waleed Abo Hamad, Amr Arisha Nov 2012

Capacity Planning For Elderly Care In Ireland Using Simluation Modeling, Mohamed Ragab, Waleed Abo Hamad, Amr Arisha

Conference papers

Global population aging is creating an immense pressure on healthcare facilities making them unable to cope with the growing demand for elderly healthcare services. Current demand-supply gaps result in prolonged waiting times for patients and substantial cost burdens for healthcare systems due to delayed discharges. This paper describes a project aimed at presenting modeling and simulation to address elderly care pathways within the Irish healthcare sector. The management of frail patients admitted to acute hospitals and the introduction of the new intermediate care beds are alternative interventions that healthcare executives are interested in simulating to examine their impact on the …


Simulation, Development And Deployment Of Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks For Migratory Bird Tracking, William P. Bennett Jr Aug 2012

Simulation, Development And Deployment Of Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks For Migratory Bird Tracking, William P. Bennett Jr

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

This thesis presents CraneTracker, a multi-modal sensing and communication system for monitoring migratory species at the continental level. By exploiting the robust and extensive cellular infrastructure across the continent, traditional mobile wireless sensor networks can be extended to enable reliable, low-cost monitoring of migratory species. The developed multi-tier architecture yields ecologists with unconventional behavior information not furnished by alternative tracking systems at such a large scale and for a low-cost. The simulation, development and implementation of the CraneTracker software system is presented. The system is shown effective through multiple proxy deployments on wildlife and has been operational for 10 months …


Clay Minerals For Nanocomposites And Biotechnology: Surface Modification, Dynamics And Responses To Stimuli, Hendrik Heinz Jun 2012

Clay Minerals For Nanocomposites And Biotechnology: Surface Modification, Dynamics And Responses To Stimuli, Hendrik Heinz

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

Clay minerals find a wide range of application in composites, paints, drilling liquids, cosmetics, and medicine. This article reviews chemical and physical properties of natural and organically modified clay minerals to understand the nanometre-scale structure, surface characteristics, and application in functional materials. The relation between fundamental properties and materials design is emphasized and illustrated by examples. The discussion comprises the following: an overview; surface structure and cation density; solubility and solubility reversal by surface modification; the degree of covalent and ionic bonding represented by atomic charges; the distribution of metal substitution sites; measurements and simulations of interfacial properties at the …


Predictive Musculoskeletal Simulation Using Optimal Control: Effects Of Added Limb Mass On Energy Cost And Kinematics Of Walking And Running, Antonie J. Van Den Bogert, Maarten Hupperets, Heiko Schlarb, Berthold Krabbe Jun 2012

Predictive Musculoskeletal Simulation Using Optimal Control: Effects Of Added Limb Mass On Energy Cost And Kinematics Of Walking And Running, Antonie J. Van Den Bogert, Maarten Hupperets, Heiko Schlarb, Berthold Krabbe

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

When designing sports equipment, it is often desirable to predict how certain design parameters will affect human performance. In many instances, this requires a consideration of human musculoskeletal mechanics and adaptive neuromuscular control. Current computational methods do not represent these mechanisms, and design optimization typically requires several iterations of prototyping and human testing. This paper introduces a computational method based on musculoskeletal modeling and optimal control, which has the capability to predict the effect of mechanical equipment properties on human performance. The underlying assumption is that users will adapt their neuromuscular control according to an optimality principle, which balances task …


Improving Health Care Quality And Safety: The Development And Assessment Of Laparoscopic Surgery Instrumentation, Practices And Procedures, Bernadette Mccrory May 2012

Improving Health Care Quality And Safety: The Development And Assessment Of Laparoscopic Surgery Instrumentation, Practices And Procedures, Bernadette Mccrory

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Adverse events due to medical errors are a leading cause of death in the United States exceeding the mortality rates of motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer and AIDS. Improvements can and should be made to reduce the rates of preventable surgical errors since they account for nearly half of all adverse events within hospitals. Although minimally invasive surgery has proven patient benefits such as reduced postoperative pain and hospital stay, its operative environment imposes substantial physical and cognitive strain on the surgeon increasing the risk of error. In order to mitigate errors and protect patients, a multidisciplinary approach was taken …


The Implementation Of A Visco-Hyperelastic Numerical Material Model For Simulating The Behaviour Of Polymer Foam Materials, Conor Briody, Barry Duignan, Stephen Jerrams, John Tiernan Apr 2012

The Implementation Of A Visco-Hyperelastic Numerical Material Model For Simulating The Behaviour Of Polymer Foam Materials, Conor Briody, Barry Duignan, Stephen Jerrams, John Tiernan

Articles

Polyurethane foam has been in use for some time in wheelchair seating systems as it offers good pressure relieving capabilities in most cases. However, little characterisation work has gone into seating foam materials by comparison with conventional elastomeric materials. Accurate material models could allow better prediction of foam in-service behaviour, which could potentially improve seating design practises. The objective of this work was to develop an approach for the validation of hyperelastic and viscoelastic material model parameters used to simulate polyurethane foam behaviour. Material parameters were identified from relevant test procedures and implemented in a Finite Element simulation of an …


Creating Performance Curves For Variable Refrigerant Flow Heat Pumps In Energyplus, Florida Solar Energy Center, Richard Raustad Mar 2012

Creating Performance Curves For Variable Refrigerant Flow Heat Pumps In Energyplus, Florida Solar Energy Center, Richard Raustad

FSEC Energy Research Center®

This document describes methods to generate performance curve coefficients for variable refrigerant flow heat pumps in DOE's EnergyPlus building energy simulation program. Manufactures performance data for capacity and power are used to create full-load and part-load performance curves for cooling and heating operating modes. When performance variations for full-load capacity or power cannot be modeled using a single performance curve, the data set is divided into lower and upper temperature regions and dual performance curves are used. Table objects may also be created to substitute when performance curves do not provide the required accuracy. These performance curves or tables are …


Virtual Worlds And Health: Healthcare Delivery And Simulation Opportunities, David Holloway Jan 2012

Virtual Worlds And Health: Healthcare Delivery And Simulation Opportunities, David Holloway

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

With decades of experience in simulation, the health professions are comparatively well versed in virtual environments for training. More broadly, there is a growing body of experience and supporting evidence on the benefits of virtual worlds for professional information sharing, clinical simulation, healthcare delivery, and as a research tool. Virtual worlds have empirically demonstrated outcomes as a simulation tool that increases knowledge and of health professionals, and initial explorations in regard to healthcare delivery show promise. Key challenges for wider adoption of virtual worlds within the health professions include a lack of established standards around privacy, a fragmented approach to …


Feasibility Of Passivhaus Standards And Alternative Passive Design On Climatic Zones Of Chile - Determination Of Energy Requirements With Dynamic Simulation, Javier Carrasco Eade, Georgios Kokogiannakis Jan 2012

Feasibility Of Passivhaus Standards And Alternative Passive Design On Climatic Zones Of Chile - Determination Of Energy Requirements With Dynamic Simulation, Javier Carrasco Eade, Georgios Kokogiannakis

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

The current building envelope standards from Article 4.1.10 of the “General Law of Urban Planning and Construction” The current building envelope standards from Article 4.1.10 of the “General Law of Urban Planning and Construction” in Chile are applied on a typical residential building for the climate of Concepción (36° Latitude South, 73° Longitude West) and a detailed energy simulation program is used to assess the energy performance of this building. The simulation results of the Chilean standards are then compared with simulation results of PassivHaus standards upon the same building layout and with simulation results from the same typical building …


Decision Strategies For A P2p Computing System, Grzegorz Chmaj, Krzysztof Walkowiak Jan 2012

Decision Strategies For A P2p Computing System, Grzegorz Chmaj, Krzysztof Walkowiak

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Research

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) computing (also called ‘public-resource computing’) is an effective approach to perform computation of large tasks. Currently used P2P computing systems (e.g., BOINC) are most often centrally managed, i.e., the final result of computations is created at a central node using partial results – what may be not efficient in the case when numerous participants are willing to download the final result. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to P2P computing systems. We assume that results can be delivered to all peers in a distributed way using three types of network flows: unicast, Peer-to-Peer and anycast. We …


A Simulation Analysis Of Photovoltaic Ac Module Integrated Converters In Parallel, Under Controlled Edge Shading Conditions, Lynette O'Callaghan, Mick Mckeever, Brian Norton Jan 2012

A Simulation Analysis Of Photovoltaic Ac Module Integrated Converters In Parallel, Under Controlled Edge Shading Conditions, Lynette O'Callaghan, Mick Mckeever, Brian Norton

Conference Papers

A DC and AC power simulation comparison of: a Photovoltaic (PV) array with a modular, parallel, AC converter configuration; and a series, string configuration with a central AC converter, is presented. The systems are simulated using a comprehensive range of edge shading scenarios and irradiance conditions. Power control and transformation circuitry must be designed for shade and module mismatch tolerance to prevent over-proportional power to shade losses, as average losses from Building Integrated PV (BIPV) systems are approximately 20 to 25%, due to shade, mismatch, differences in orientation and inclination, and temperature effects. 59.4% of the simulations showed gains in …


Parameters Controlling Emission Of Terahertz Frequency Electromagnetic Radiation From Inas And Gaas: An Ensemble Monte Carlo Simulation Study, David Laurence Cortie, Roger A. Lewis Jan 2012

Parameters Controlling Emission Of Terahertz Frequency Electromagnetic Radiation From Inas And Gaas: An Ensemble Monte Carlo Simulation Study, David Laurence Cortie, Roger A. Lewis

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

The generation, manipulation and detection of terahertz-frequency electromagnetic radiation are topics of great current theoretical and experimental interest. In particular, the coherent generation and detection of ultrashort pulses of terahertz radiation has opened up the field of terahertz time-domain spectroscopy, which permits the simultaneous measurement of amplitude and phase of the terahertz electric field. In this paper, the emission of terahertz radiation from bare semiconductor surfaces following photoexcitation by ultrashort pulses of near-infrared radiation is studied using ensemble Monte Carlo simulations. The simulation allows us to examine separately distinct scattering mechanisms and to vary the materials parameters of bandgap, absorption …


A 3-D Computational Fluid Dynamics Model For Forced Air Cooling Of Eggs Placed In Trays, Vikas Kumar, Ai Pheeng Wee, Sohan Birla, Jeyamkondan Subbiah, Harshanardhan Thippareddi Jan 2012

A 3-D Computational Fluid Dynamics Model For Forced Air Cooling Of Eggs Placed In Trays, Vikas Kumar, Ai Pheeng Wee, Sohan Birla, Jeyamkondan Subbiah, Harshanardhan Thippareddi

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Shell eggs must be cooled quickly after laying for controlling Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) growth. To fulfill a research need identified by Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), a 3-D Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model was developed to predict the temperature of eggs placed on a tray (6 rows × 5 columns) under forced air cooling. The continuity, momentum, and energy equations were solved along with standard k-ε turbulence model using PHOENICS software. The model was validated by conducting experiments in a wind tunnel at various air temperatures (7–11 °C) and velocities (0.3– 0.7 m/s). Root mean square error for predicting …


Numerical Simulation Of Fully Grouted Rock Bolts, Hossein Jalalifar, Naj Aziz Jan 2012

Numerical Simulation Of Fully Grouted Rock Bolts, Hossein Jalalifar, Naj Aziz

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

This chapter describes the application of numerical modelling to civil and mining projects, particularly rock bolting, developing a Final Element (FE) model for the bolt, grout, rock, and two interfaces under axial and lateral loading, verifying the model, analysing the stress and strains developed in the bolt and surrounding materials. Numerical methods are the most versatile computational methods for various engineering disciplines because a structure is discritised into small elements and the constitutive equations that describe the individual elements and their interactions are constructed. Finally, these numerous equations are solved together simultaneously using computers. The results from this procedure include …


Simulation Model Of A Grid-Connected Single-Phase Photovoltaic System In Pscad/Emtdc, Brian K. Perera, Sridhar R. Pulikanti, Philip Ciufo, Sarath Perera Jan 2012

Simulation Model Of A Grid-Connected Single-Phase Photovoltaic System In Pscad/Emtdc, Brian K. Perera, Sridhar R. Pulikanti, Philip Ciufo, Sarath Perera

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

In this paper, a complete simulation model of a grid-connected single-phase two-stage photovoltaic (PV) system with associated controllers is presented. The simulation model is developed in PSCAD/EMTDC simulation program. The component models of the grid-connected PV system include a PV array, a dc-dc boost converter, a voltage source converter (VSC) and an LCL filter. Components of the LCL filter, the dc-link capacitor of the VSC and the inductor of the dc-dc boost converter are established theoretically and that are used in modelling the grid-connected PV system. The control architecture of the presented system incorporates a synchronous reference frame phase-locked-loop (s-PLL), …


Modelling A Longwall Production System Using Flexsim 3d Simulation Software, D Cai, E Baafi, I Porter Jan 2012

Modelling A Longwall Production System Using Flexsim 3d Simulation Software, D Cai, E Baafi, I Porter

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Longwall mining accounts for more than 75% of underground coal production in Australia. It is a popular underground coal mining method worldwide, mainly due to its high extraction ratio, high productivity and increased safety due to improved powered support units. A longwall system requires significant capital investment, and it is necessary to minimise the financial risk associated with this investment. Minimisation of this financial risk requires a sound knowledge of the relationship between underlying operational/technical constraints and associated costs. A discrete simulation model using the Flexsim 3D virtual reality environment has been developed to assist management evaluate the impact of …