Engineering Commons^™

Identification Of Bridges With Fracture-Prone Details, Theodore Hopwood Ii, Rick Younce, Sudhir Palle

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Welded steel girder bridges can contain details that can high welding and service stresses and are termed constraintinduced fractures (CIF). The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has steel bridges with weld details known to cause CIFs whose girders have experienced fracture events. The Cabinet’s bridge inventory was reviewed and additional candidate bridges with potential CIF details were identified. A review of bridge plans and pictures along with followup field investigations pinpointed bridges with CIF details that warrant up-close (i.e., arm’s length) inspections. Several uninspected bridges were identified as candidates for inspection to determine if they contain CIF details. Guidance is provided to …

On Path Consistency For Binary Constraint Satisfaction Problems, Christopher G. Reeson

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

Constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) provide a flexible and powerful framework for modeling and solving many decision problems of practical importance. Consistency properties and the algorithms for enforcing them on a problem instance are at the heart of Constraint Processing and best distinguish this area from other areas concerned with the same combinatorial problems. In this thesis, we study path consistency (PC) and investigate several algorithms for enforcing it on binary finite CSPs. We also study algorithms for enforcing consistency properties that are related to PC but are stronger or weaker than PC.

We identify and correct errors in the literature …

Electronic Commerce Negotiation In A Supply Chain Via Constraint Evaluation, R. Wilhelm, B. Chu, R. Sun

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Negotiation is of critical importance in e-commerce applications where the supply chain is dynamic and reconfiguring. In this research supply chain negotiation problems are addressed as constraint-satisfaction problems. In general each negotiation is handled in the largest scope possible to avoid the suboptimality that can result from many local solutions. This global approach, however, must be balanced with time constraints that apply in e-commerce supply chain execution. In this paper, we describe a new approach for e-commerce supply chain negotiation via constraint evaluation. As well, results from prototype software, distributed across the internet, are discussed. Beyond the general formulation, we …

A Note On The Free Distance Of A Convolutional Code, Alexander Miczo, Luther D. Rudolph

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - All Scholarship

A counterexample to a conjecture on the number of constraint lengths required to achieve the free distance of a rate l/n systematic convolutional code is presented.