Engineering Commons^™

Conservative Confidence Intervals Of Importance Sampling Estimates, Kurt Louis Kosbar, T. F. Chang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Confidence intervals (CI) are used to gauge the accuracy of bit error rate (BER) estimates produced by Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. This work attempts to objectively evaluate the performance of Important Sampling (IS) simulations by applying the same statistical analysis tool. While it is not possible to evaluate the minimum size CI for arbitrary IS estimates, it is possible to over-bound the interval using a technique called conservative confidence interval (CCI) estimation. This bounding procedure is applied to a simple IS biasing technique. While the IS estimate may be superior to the MC estimate, the CCI fails to support this …

Design And Performance Of A Bituminous Surface Mixture Containing Bottom Ash Aggregate, David Q. Hunsucker

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

A one-mile experimental bituminous surface overlay was placed in October 1987 on State Route 3 in Lawrence County, Kentucky. The experimental section utilized bottom ash aggregate from the Kentucky Power Company's Big Sandy Power Plant, near Louisa, Kentucky. Bottom ashes are generally angular and have very porous surfaces. Approximately 539 tons of the experimental bituminous surface material, containing 40 percent bottom ash (dry weight), were placed. Reported herein are results of laboratory tests and performance evaluations of the experimental surface mixture.

Performance of the experimental bottom ash surface has been excellent. Skid resistance tests indicate the surface is highly skid …

Effect Of A Robot's Geometrical Parameters On Its Optimal Dynamic Performance, M. Yousef Ibrahim, Christopher D. Cook, A K. Tieu

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

This paper presents a study that was conducted at Monash University College - Gippsland on the effect of a robot’s geometrical parameters on its dynamic performance. This research was undertaken in pursuit of an optimal dynamic performance of industrial robots. In this study an indicator was established to quantitatively measure the dynamic performance of a robot arm with respect to changes in the geometrical parameters. Since the dynamic behaviour of a robot’s arm is largely dependent on its inertia terms; the performance indicator was based on the Logarithmic function of the sensitivity of the inertia matrix’s eigenvalues to changes in …

Performance Of Test Embankment Constructed To Failure On Soft Marine Clay, Buddhima Indraratna, A S. Balasubramaniam, S Balachandran

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

This paper describes the observed and the predicted performance of a full-scale trial embankment built to failure on a soft Malaysian marine clay. Predictions of the subsoil deformation. the critical height of fill and the corresponding slip surface are made and subsequently compared to the field measurements. It is of importance to realize that all the predictions were made prior to the actual failure of the embankment. The comparison with measurements was possible only after the International Symposium on Trial Embankments on Malaysian Marine Clays, was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in November 1989, during which the field data were …

Optimizing The Integration Of Photovoltaic Systems With Electric Utilities, Badrul H. Chowdhury

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The author introduces a comprehensive simulation package whereby the optimal size, operation, performance and economics of a photovoltaic (PV) system can be determined in the utility-integrated mode. The central issue is to present a single definitive optimization model. A stepwise analytical methodology starting at the solar resource and culminating in the value of the PV system in terms of avoided costs is provided. The methodology includes processing of the solar irradiance; identification of the PV system''s configuration and operational features; identification of real-time system controls in the presence of PV generation; security assessment in the presence of PV and production …