Engineering Commons^™

Intercode Advanced Fuels And Cladding Comparison Using Bison, Frapcon, And Femaxi Fuel Performance Codes, Aaren Rice

Theses and Dissertations

The high density uranium-based fuels are regaining popularity as the current fleet of LWR’s are showing interest in uprating plants to increase accident tolerance and performance. Fuels such as U3Si2, UN, and UC all contain a higher uranium loading and thermal conductivity than that of UO2 making them attractive in combination with an advanced cladding type such as the ceramic SiC cladding. In addition to adding more mass uranium to the core without surpassing current enrichment limits, these advanced fuels and claddings are designed with increased accident tolerance performance in a LOCA type scenario in mind. One of the possible …

Specific Heat And Magnetic Relaxation Analysis Of Mgb2 Bulk Samples With And Without Additives, C. Senatore, P. Lezza, R. Lortz, Olga V. Shcherbakova, Wai Kong Yeoh, S. X. Dou, R. Flukiger

Shi Xue Dou

The effects of SiC and Carbon doping on the superconducting properties of MgB2 polycrystalline samples have been analysed by means of specific heat and magnetic relaxation measurements. It is known that the addition of nanometric powders of SiC and C leads to the enhancement of Birr and Jc. However, the underlying physical mechanism is not completely understood. Magnetic relaxation measurements did not show detectable effects of both the additions on the pinning properties of MgB2. It follows that doping acts mainly introducing disorder into the superconductor and thus raising Bc2. In the case of MgB1.9C0.1, specific heat measurements show that …

Icloudecg: A Mobile Cardiac Telemedicine System, David S. Clifford

Masters Theses

With rising healthcare costs and a substantially growing number of patients 65 or over, the benefits of telemedicine and patient self-monitoring systems are becoming increasingly evident. Patients, physicians, hospitals, and even insurance providers benefit from vigilant, cost-effective patient monitoring systems. This thesis describes the development of a portable, smart-phone connected system for continuous cardiac monitoring. The system is capable of continuously monitoring the conditions of the heart, automated detection of cardiac arrhythmias, and real-time notifying patients and physicians of the detected abnormalities. The system consists of four main subsystems: 1) a Bluetooth capable chest-strap ECG, 2) an Android-enabled mobile device, …

Towards A Semantic Knowledge Management Framework For Laminated Composites, Vivek Premkumar

Masters Theses

The engineering of laminated composite structures is a complex task for design engineers and manufacturers, requiring significant management of manufacturing process and materials information. Ontologies are becoming increasingly commonplace for semantically representing knowledge in a formal manner that facilitates sharing of rich information between people and applications. Moreover, ontologies can support first-order logic and reasoning by rule engines that enhance automation. To support the engineering of laminated composite structures, this work developed a novel Semantic LAminated Composites Knowledge management System (SLACKS) that is based on a suite of ontologies for laminated composites materials and design for manufacturing (DFM) and their …

Pathway Variation Analysis (Pva): Modelling And Simulations, Nagesh Shukla, Sudi Lahiri, Darek Ceglarek

Nagesh Shukla

Maintaining a care pathway within a hospital to provide complex care to patients is associated with challenges related to variations from the pathway. This occurs due to ineffective decision-making processes, unclear process steps, the interactions, conflicting performance measures for speciality units, and the availability of resources. These variations from the care pathway or standard care delivery processes lead to longer patient waiting times and lower patient throughput. Traditional approaches to improve the pathway focus primarily on reducing variations within the care pathway such as bottlenecks or throughput within the pathway rather than examining variations from the care pathway. In this …

Creation And Analysis Of Checklists To Improve Raquet Stringing Performance In Tennis Warehouse, Alston S. Nguyen

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Tennis Warehouse has a need to increase the supply of strung racquets and man hours to complete these strung racquets over the course of a year. That is, the demand can be increased by up to 4 times its average load during certain hectic parts of the year (professional tournaments, holidays, and competitive seasons). Not meeting this demand can lead to upset customers, unnecessary waste and replacing of rushed items and shipping costs, and a discouraged customer service representative workforce. The objective of this project is to use a set of checklists to address this problem and attempt to increase …

Ontological Meta-Analysis And Synthesis Of Hipaa, Arkalgud Ramaprasad, Thant Syn, Khin Than Win

Thant Syn

We present ontological meta-analysis and synthesis of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) as a method for reviewing, mapping, and visualizing the research literature in the domain cumulatively, logically, systematically, and systemically. The method will highlight the domain's bright spots which are heavily emphasized, the light spots which are lightly emphasized, the blind spots which have been overlooked, and the blank spots which may never be emphasized. It will highlight the biases and asymmetries in the domain's research; the research can then be realigned to make it stronger and more effective. We present an ontology for HIPAA, map the …

Flexural Behavior Of R/C Beams Strengthened With Cfrp Sheets Or Fabric, P. Alagusundaramoorthy, Issam Harik, Ching Choo

Issam E. Harik

The resistance to electro-chemical corrosion, high-strength to weight ratio, larger creep strain, fatigue resistance, non-magnetic and non-metallic properties of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites offer a viable alternative to bonding of steel plates in repair and rehabilitation of reinforced concrete structures. The objective of this investigation is to study the effectiveness of externally bonded CFRP sheets or fabric in increasing the flexural strength of concrete beams. Four-point bending flexural tests are conducted up to failure on nine concrete beams strengthened with different layouts of CFRP sheets and fabric, and three beams with different layouts of anchored CFRP sheets. An …

Post Earthquake Investigation Field Manual For The State Of Kentucky, Ann Sardo, Thomas Sardo, Issam Harik

Issam E. Harik

The rapid assessment of a bridge structure’s safety and functionality is an essential component to restoring vital lifeline routes after a major earthquake. Appropriate posting categories are used to assure the safety of the traveling public. The objective of this manual is to provide a rapid and efficient method of inspecting bridge structures after an earthquake. The primary users of this manual are intended to be the initial Kentucky Transportation Cabinet personnel who will initially reach the bridge sites. It is recognized that such first-line personnel will possess a variety of backgrounds and, therefore, a systematic method of evaluating the …

Sample Size Effect On Combustion Analysis, Osueke C. O, Uguru Okorie Daniel, Aondoyila Kuhe

Innovative Research Publications IRP India

Engine parameters vary from one cycle to the other and this makes engine analysis with data from a single working cycle insufficient in capturing or modelling an engine behaviour. The variation observed in engine has necessitated the use sample sizes of data obtained during an engine operation to obtain results that are representative of the engine being investigated. Research has shown that the use of very large data sample size increases the storage needed and processing time and does not necessary give better results over results obtained with lesser sample sizes. The number of sample size to use for analysis …

An Integrated Centrifugo-Opto-Microfluidic Platform For Arraying, Analysis, Identification And Manipulation Of Individual Cells, Robert Burger, D Kurzbuch, Robert Gorkin Iii, Gregor Kijanka, Macdara Glynn, C Mcdonagh, Jens Ducree

Robert Gorkin III

In this work we present a centrifugal microfluidic system enabling highly efficient collective trapping and alignment of particles such as microbeads and cells, their multi-colour fluorescent detection and subsequent manipulation by optical tweezers. We demonstrate array-based capture and imaging followed by "cherry-picking" of individual particles, first for fluorescently labelled polystyrene (PS) beads and then for cells. Different cell lines are discriminated based on intracellular as well as surface-based markers.

Optical Sensing System Based On Wireless Paired Emitter Detector Diode Device And Ionogels For Lab-On-A-Disc Water Quality Analysis, Monika Czugala, Robert Gorkin Iii, Thomas Phelan, Jennifer Gaughran, Vincenzo Curto, Jens Ducree, Dermot Diamond, Fernando Benito-Lopez

Robert Gorkin III

This work describes the first use of a wireless paired emitter detector diode device (PEDD) as an optical sensor for water quality monitoring in a lab-on-a-disc device. The microfluidic platform, based on an ionogel sensing area combined with a low-cost optical sensor, is applied for quantitative pH and qualitative turbidity monitoring of water samples at point-of-need. The autonomous capabilities of the PEDD system, combined with the portability and wireless communication of the full device, provide the flexibility needed for on-site water testing. Water samples from local fresh and brackish sources were successfully analysed using the device, showing very good correlation …

Centrifugal Microfluidics For Cell Analysis, Robert Burger, Daniel Kirby, Macdara Glynn, Charles E Nwankire, Mary O'Sullivan, Jonathan Siegrist, David Kinahan, Gerson Aguirre, Gregor Kijanka, Robert Gorkin Iii, Jens Ducree

Robert Gorkin III

Over the past two decades, centrifugal microfluidic systems have successfully demonstrated their capability for robust, high-performance liquid handling to enable modular, multipurpose lab-on-a-chip platforms for a wide range of lifescience applications. Beyond the handling of homogeneous liquids, the unique, rotationally controlled centrifugal actuation has proven to be specifically advantageous for performing cell and particle handling and assays. In this review we discuss technologies to implement two important steps for cell handling, namely separation and capturing/counting.

Cost Effective Analysis Of Big Data, Steven J. Litzsinger, Nehad Dababo

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Executive Summary

Big data is everywhere and businesses that can access and analyze it have a huge advantage over those who can’t. One option for leveraging big data to make more informed decisions is to hire a big data consulting company to take over the entire project. This method requires the least effort, but is also the least cost effective. The problem is that the know-how for starting a big data project is not commonly known and the consulting alternative is not very cost effective. This creates the need for a cost effective approach that businesses can use to start …

Analysis Of 3d Printer Schedule, Colin B. Mclane

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

With recent innovations in technology, 3D printing has become a rapidly expanding manufacturing method that is being used for a wide range of applications. Their ability to build parts layer by layer instead of cutting away initial material allows this method to have almost no wasted material, creating the potential for a much more efficient, cost effective process. In order to continue the growth of this manufacturing strategy, the performance of 3D printers need to be enhanced to ensure equal or higher quality of produced parts in comparison to other manufacturing methods that are more commonly used. One important part …

Systems Modeling And Economic Analysis Of Photovoltaic (Pv) Powered Water Pumping Brackish Water Desalination For Agriculture, Michael A. Jones

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The objective of this study was to determine the economic viability of solar powered water pumping and desalination systems for agriculture. Growing global demand for agricultural production has put increased pressure on limited freshwater resources in various locations around the word. Many areas have low quality groundwater resources that have not been utilized for agriculture due to limited availability to electricity, high operational costs of diesel generators and the economics associated with water pumping and processing. Reverse osmosis is a desalination technology that removes salts and other minerals from low-quality water, making it fit for drinking or irrigation. Reduced costs …

An Analysis Of Sensitivity In Economic Forecasting For Pavement Management Systems, Antonio Fuentes

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the scope of transportation asset management, the maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) performed on asphalt roads at the local government level requires careful planning and intelligent use of limited funding. For this reason, a Pavement Management System (PMS) is incorporated and used as a tool for local government leaders to make the best decision given their annual budget. The PMS process is a repeatable process which consists of determining present day pavement condition, evaluating future deterioration, performing an economic analysis of possible M&R treatments and finally implementing a proper M&R plan to keep the asphalt pavement network in good condition. …

A Collaborative Conceptual Aircraft Design Environment For The Design Of Small-Scale Uavs In A Multi-University Setting, Joseph Samuel Becar

Theses and Dissertations

In today's competitive global market, there is an ever-increasing demand for highly skilled engineers equipped to perform in teams dispersed over several time-zones by geography. Aerospace Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering (AerosPACE) is a senior design capstone program co-developed by academia and industry to help students develop the necessary skills to excel in the aerospace industry by challenging them to design, build, and fly an unique unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Students with little to no experience designing UAVs are put together in teams with their peers from geographically dispersed universities. This presents a significant challenge for the students …

Data-Driven Modeling And Analysis Of Household Travel Mode Choice, Nagesh Shukla, Jun Ma, Rohan Wickramasuriya Denagamage, Nam N. Huynh

Nagesh Shukla

One of the important problems studied in the area of travel behavior analysis is travel mode choice which is one of the four crucial steps in transportation demand estimation for urban planning. State of the art models in travel demand modelling can be classified as trip based; tour based; and activity based. In trip based approach, each individual trips is modelled as independent and isolated trips i.e. no connections between different trips. In tour based approach, trips that start and end from the same location (home, work, etc) and trips within a tour are dependent on each other. In past …

Design And Analysis Of A Mars Supply Spacecraft, Tristan Plante, Alex Holland, Landon Klein, Jordan Forbord, Benjamin Kading, Jeremy Straub, David Whalen

Jeremy Straub

This poster considers one part of a space solar power-based mission to sup-ply wireless power for use on the Mar-tian surface. It presents a cargo capsule designed to house the necessities for human survival, as well as research equipment , and safely deliver them to a predetermined destination on Mars.

Statistical Analysis Of Overvoltages Due To The Energisation Of A 132 Kv Underground Cable, M Z. Daud, P Ciufo, S Perera

Dr Philip Ciufo

Analysis by means of simulation studies is essential for providing useful information to distribution engineers and researchers regarding high frequency switching transients in cable systems. The behaviour of transients due to switching is strongly dependent on the pole closing span of the circuit breaker and also the closing angle of the power frequency voltage. This behaviour requires the study of overvoltage magnitude distributions to be carried out using a statistical approach. This paper presents an analysis of overvoltage sensitivity due to circuit breaker operations when energising an unloaded 132 kV underground cable system. Based on two approaches, the overvoltage values …

A Sensitivity Analysis Toolkit For The Simplification Of Mv Distribution Network Voltage Management, Fabian Tamp, Philip Ciufo

Dr Philip Ciufo

As distribution networks become increasingly variable and generation becomes increasingly decentralised, voltage standards are becoming more liable to violation. Accordingly, intelligent voltage management strategies are required to enable standards compliance without unduly increasing network maintenance or infrastructure costs. The relationship between network power and voltages, however, is complex, non-linear and interdependent, and thus is difficult to conceptualise and use for decision-making and control purposes. This paper introduces a software toolkit that simplifies the development of voltage management strategies by the application of sensitivity analysis. Sensitivity analysis reduces complex network relationships to simple linear equations, and thus enables easy and comprehensive …

Experimental Characterization And Correlation Analysis Of Indoor Channels At 15 Ghz, Xin Zhou, Zhangdui Zhong, Bei Zhang, Ruisi He, Ke Guan, Qi Wang, David W. Matolak

Faculty Publications

The indoor radio channels at 15 GHz are investigated based on measurements. The large- and small-scale fading behaviors as well as the delay dispersion characteristics are discussed. It is found that the large-scale fading, Ricean -factor, and delay spread can be described by log-normal distributions. Furthermore, both autocorrelation and cross correlation properties of the above parameters are analyzed and modeled. These parameters characterize fading and delay behaviors as well as their mutual dependency and can be used as empirical values for future wireless system design and simulation in 15 GHz short-range indoor channels.

A Comparative Analysis Of Multichannel Data Acquisition Systems For Quality Assurance In External Beam Radiation Therapy, Iolanda Fuduli, Claudiu Porumb, Anthony Espinoza, Abdullah Aldosari, Martin Carolan, Michael Lf Lerch, Peter E. Metcalfe, Anatoly Rosenfeld, Marco Petasecca

Anthony A Espinoza Mr

The paper presents a comparative study performed by the Centre of Medical Radiation Physics (CMRP) on three multichannel Data Acquisition Systems (DAQ) based on different analogue front-ends to suit a wide range of radiotherapy applications. The three front-ends are: a charge-to-frequency converter developed by INFN Torino, an electrometer and a charge-to-digital converter (both commercial devices from Texas Instruments). For the first two (named DAQ A and B), the CMRP has designed the read-out systems whilst the third one (DAQ C) comes with its own evaluation board. For the purpose of the characterization DAQ A and DAQ B have been equipped …

Pathway Variation Analysis (Pva): Modelling And Simulations, Nagesh Shukla, Sudi Lahiri, Darek Ceglarek

SMART Infrastructure Facility - Papers

Maintaining a care pathway within a hospital to provide complex care to patients is associated with challenges related to variations from the pathway. This occurs due to ineffective decision-making processes, unclear process steps, the interactions, conflicting performance measures for speciality units, and the availability of resources. These variations from the care pathway or standard care delivery processes lead to longer patient waiting times and lower patient throughput. Traditional approaches to improve the pathway focus primarily on reducing variations within the care pathway such as bottlenecks or throughput within the pathway rather than examining variations from the care pathway. In this …

Analysis On The Transient Of A Self-Mixing Interferometry Sensing System, Yuanlong Fan, Bin Liu, Yanguang Yu, Jiangtao Xi, Qinghua Guo, Jun Tong

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

The transient of a self-mixing interferometry (SMI) sensing system is investigated in this paper by solving the well known Lang and Kobayashi (LK) equations. Specifically, the influence of two important system parameters, i.e., the feedback level factor and the linewidth enhancement factor, on the transient is discussed, showing that the decay time and the oscillation period of the transient respectively increases and decreases with the increase of the feedback level factor, and both increase with the increase of linewidth enhancement factor. The results presented in this paper are useful for designing a stable SMI system.

Power Generation Analysis Of Powerwindow, A Linear Wind Generator, Using Computational Fluid Dynamic Simulations, Seyed A. Jafari, Farzad Safaei, Buyung Kosasih, K C. Kwok

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

A new linear wind generator (LWG), named PowerWindow, is introduced. The modular and scalable LWG is capable of generating power in low wind velocity condition, and hence can be an effective and safe power generator in built environments. The aerodynamic mechanism of the LWG power generation is elucidated using computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations, and the results are validated against the experimental data obtained from the prototype wind tunnel tests. The simulations provide important insights into the flow field in and around LWG particularly over the front and rear blades and how each one contributes to the power generation. This …

Towards Knowledge Sharing In Disaster Management: An Agent Oriented Knowledge Analysis Framework, Dedi Iskandar Inan, Ghassan Beydoun, Simon Opper

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Disaster Management (DM) is a complex set of interrelated activities. The activities are often knowledge intensive and time sensitive. Sharing the required knowledge timely is critical for DM. In developed countries, for recurring disasters (e.g. floods), there are dedicated document repositories of Disaster Management Plans (DMP) that can be accessed as needs arise. However, accessing the appropriate plan in a timely manner and sharing activities between plans often requires domain knowledge and intimate knowledge of the plans in the first place. In this paper, we introduce an agent-based knowledge analysis method to convert DMPs into a collection of knowledge units …

A New Bio-Cryptosystem-Oriented Security Analysis Framework And Implementation Of Multibiometric Cryptosystems Based On Decision Level Fusion, Cai Li, Jiankun Hu, Josef Pieprzyk, Willy Susilo

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Biometric cryptosystems provide an innovative solution for cryptographic key generation, encryption as well as biometric template protection. Besides high authentication accuracy, a good biometric cryptosystem is expected to protect biometric templates effectively, which requires that helper data does not reveal significant information about the templates. Previous works predominantly follow an appropriate entropy definition to measure the security of biometric cryptosystems. In this paper, we point out limitations of entropy-based security analysis and propose a new security analysis framework that combines information-theoretic approach with computational security. In addition, we construct a fingerprint-based multibiometric cryptosystem using decision level fusion. Hash functions are …

Interface Analysis And Hot Deformation Behaviour Of A Novel Laminated Composite With High-Cr Cast Iron And Low Carbon Steel Prepared By Hot Compression Bonding, Zhengyi Jiang, Xingjian Gao, Sheng-Li Li, Hong Mei Zhang, Dengfu Chen, Jian Zhong Xu

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

A hot compression bonding process was developed to prepare a novel laminated composite consisting of high-Cr cast iron (HCCI) as the inner layer and low carbon steel (LCS) as the outer layers on a Gleeble 3500 thermomechanical simulator at a temperature of 950 °C and a strain rate of 0.001 S^-1. Interfacial bond quality and hot deformation behaviour of the laminate were studied by microstructural characterisation and mechanical tests. Experimental results show that the metallurgical bond between the constituent metals was achieved under the proposed bonding conditions without discernible defects and the formation of interlayer or intermetallic layer …