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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

A Simple, Robust, And On-Site Microwave Technique For Determining Water-To-Cement Ratio (W/C) Of Fresh Portland Cement-Based Materials, K. Mubarak, Karl Joseph Bois, R. Zoughi Oct 2001

A Simple, Robust, And On-Site Microwave Technique For Determining Water-To-Cement Ratio (W/C) Of Fresh Portland Cement-Based Materials, K. Mubarak, Karl Joseph Bois, R. Zoughi

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Inspection and evaluation of cement-based materials such as concrete is of great interest to the construction industry. In particular, real-time and on-site evaluation of water-to-cement ratio (w/c) is an important practical issue, since the compressive strength of a concrete structure is significantly influenced by its w/c. Currently, there is no single real-time, on-site, relatively in-expensive, easy-to-implement, and operator friendly technique for evaluating this parameter. Microwave nondestructive testing and evaluation techniques have shown great promise when used for inspection and evaluation of the properties of cement-based materials. In this paper, the optimal design of a monopole antenna probe used to evaluate …


Watershed Management Technique To Control Sediment Yield In Agriculturally Dominated Areas, John W. Nicklow, Misgana K. Muleta Sep 2001

Watershed Management Technique To Control Sediment Yield In Agriculturally Dominated Areas, John W. Nicklow, Misgana K. Muleta

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Non-point source pollution is recognized internationally as a critical environmental problem. In Illinois, soil erosion from agricultural lands is the major source of such pollution. The erosion process, which has been accelerated by human activity, tends to reduce crop productivity and leads to subsequent problems from deposition on farmlands and in water bodies. Comprehensive watershed management, however, can be used to protect these natural resources. In this study, a discrete time optimal control methodology and computational model are developed for determining land use and management alternatives that minimize sediment yield from agriculturally-dominated watersheds. The solution methodology is based on an …


Introdução Ao Hardware Evolutivo, Gladstone B. Alves Jan 2001

Introdução Ao Hardware Evolutivo, Gladstone B. Alves

Gladstone B. Alves

In the 1950's, the idea of simulate the workings of natural evolution in an engineering setting gave birth to the domain of evolutionary computation, a powerful approach to optimization and non-deterministic problem solving. Now, some researchers are beggining to create hardware that can grow and improve itself over time, evolving steadily as it finds new and better ways to do the tasks it has set before it. The field, known as Evolvable Hardware, is a recent focus of a growing endeavour to build this kind of autonomous, adaptive, and fault-tolerant electronic systems. This paper motivates current research on Evolvable Hardware …


Simulation/Optimization Applications And Software For Optimal Ground-Water And Conjunctive Water Management, Richard C. Peralta Jan 2001

Simulation/Optimization Applications And Software For Optimal Ground-Water And Conjunctive Water Management, Richard C. Peralta

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Diverse water management simulation/optimization (S/O) experiences promoted the development of many S/O modeling approaches and models. Several of these are being incorporated within the Simulation/Optimization Modeling System (SOMOS). Non-modeler water scientists or engineers can apply one SOMOS module to optimize field-scale groundwater and conjunctive water management. Experienced groundwater modelers can apply other modules to optimally manage complex heterogeneous aquifer and stream-aquifer systems. SOMOS employs a variety of simulation models and approaches and optimization algorithms to optimize flow and contaminant management. SOMOS or its precursor modules have been well proven in real-world projects. Designed for use by consultants, students, academics, and …


Remediation Simulation/Optimization Demonstrations, Richard C. Peralta Jan 2001

Remediation Simulation/Optimization Demonstrations, Richard C. Peralta

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Applications of simulation/optimization (S/0) software to develop contamination remediation strategies include formal remediation optimization using heads and gradients (hydraulics-based) and concentrations (risk-based) constraints. The six reported cases involve pump and treat systems, or pump, treat and re-inject systems, together termed PAT systems. We used S/0 modeling to perform hydraulic optimization for two of the sites and transport optimization for four. For four of the six sites, other parties used normal simulation (S) modeling alone to develop pumping strategies. Comparing the S/0 model-developed strategies with the S model-developed strategies showed S/0 modeling benefits ranging up to: (a) 25 percent reduction in …


Microstructure-Sensitive Design Of A Compliant Beam, Brent L. Adams, Alisa J. Millar Henrie, B. Henrie, M. Lyon, H. Garmestani, Surya R. Kalidindi Jan 2001

Microstructure-Sensitive Design Of A Compliant Beam, Brent L. Adams, Alisa J. Millar Henrie, B. Henrie, M. Lyon, H. Garmestani, Surya R. Kalidindi

Faculty Publications

BA acknowledges financial support provided by the MRSEC Program of the National Science Foundation under Award Number DMR-9632556. SK acknowledges financial support from National Science Foundation under Award Number CMS-9732699. BA, SK and HG also acknowledge support from the NSF-CIRE program centered at Florida A&M University, facilitating collaborations. Support was also provided by the College of Engineering and Technology at BYU (AH, BH and ML). Computations were performed on the new SGI Origin 2000 supercomputer at Brigham Young University, donated by Ira Fulton. We show that mechanical design can be conducted where consideration of polycrystalline microstructure as a continuous design …