Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Decision Analysis With Value Focused Thinking As A Methodology To Select Force Protection Initiatives For Evaluation, David M. Jurk

Theses and Dissertations

Current emphasis on homeland security/defense is high. Decision makers responsible for enhancing the protection of both military and civilian personnel require additional insight when selecting ideas, concepts, or technologies to pursue with constrained resources. They are faced with multiple criteria and multiple objectives; yet they have no defensible, objective, and repeatable selection process to assist them in making their decisions. This thesis explores whether the value-focused thinking (VFT) process is appropriate for providing the necessary insight to those decision makers. To prove the VFT process is appropriate and viable; this thesis focuses on constructing a value model, scoring alternatives, and …

Modeling The Pre-Positioning Of Air Force Precision Guided Munitions, Daniel P. Johnstone

Theses and Dissertations

There exist factors that play a major role in an enlisted Airman's decision to either stay on active duty in the Air Force or separate. The current force structure of the U.S. Air Force and increased loss of enlisted personnel is a major concern as we look at maintaining manpower to meet the needs of the Air Force. The Air Force is reacting to this low retention problem by increasing the bonuses for initial enlistments and reenlistments, home basing, increasing quality of life for Air Force personnel with enlisted dormitory plus-ups, and under AEF personnel have increased predictability of deployment. …

Quicklook Air Mobility Modeling, Mustafa K. Pektas

Theses and Dissertations

This research is a framework for understanding issues in modeling the military aspect of space, with particular regard to capturing its value. Space power is a difficult and far-reaching topic, with implications that go beyond the military aspects. The United States military increasingly relies on space-based systems and information for success in daily operations. Telecommunications, navigation and timing, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and weather prediction are instances of services that have become dependent on satellite systems. If this reliance on space is not fully understood, U.S. national security will be at risk as the result of space information degradation or denial. …

Empirical Analysis Of Various Multi-Dimensional Knapsack Heuristics, Yong Kun Cho

Theses and Dissertations

Since the multidimensional knapsack problems are NP-hard problems, the exact solutions of knapsack problems often need excessive computing time and storage space. Thus, heuristic approaches are more practical for multidimensional knapsack problems as problems get large. This thesis presents the results of an empirical study of the performance of heuristic solution procedures based on the coefficients correlation structures and constraint slackness settings. In this thesis, the three representative greedy heuristics, Toyoda, Senju and Toyoda, and Loulou and Michaelides’ methods, are studied. The purpose of this research is to explore which heuristic of the three representative greedy heuristics performs best under …

Development Of A Systems Engineering Model Of The Chemical Separations Process: Quarterly Progress Report 11/16/01- 2/15/02, Yitung Chen, Randy Clarksean, Darrell Pepper

Separations Campaign (TRP)

The AAA program is developing technology for the transmutation of nuclear waste to address many of the long-term disposal issues. An integral part of this program is the proposed chemical separations scheme.

Two activities are proposed in this Phase I task: the development of systems engineering model and the refinement of the Argonne code AMUSE (Argonne Model for Universal Solvent Extraction). The detailed systems engineering model is the start of an integrated approach to the analysis of the materials separations associated with the AAA Program. A second portion of the project is to streamline and improve an integral part of …

Acuta Enews February 2002, Vol 31, No. 3

ACUTA Newsletters

Nominations Sought for Board of Directors

Board Report

DC Update

In Memory Of............... Ruth Michalecki

What You've Got and What You Need (Information Gathering)

Welcome New Members

Positions Available

FCC

Formation Of 2-Chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile (Cs Riot Control Agent) Thermal Degradation Products At Elevated Temperatures, Timothy A. Kluchinsky, Michael Sheely, Paul B B. Savage, Philip A. Smith

US Army Research

2-Chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile (CS riot control agent) has been shown to produce a number of thermal degradation products when dispersed at high temperature.We hypothesized that these CS-derived compounds are formed by energy input from heating during the dispersion process. Here we identified organic CS-derived compounds formed from purified CS subjected to temperatures ranging from 300 to 900 degrees C in an inert atmosphere with analysis of tube furnace effluent by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. We conclude that the production of many CS-derived compounds previously observed during high-temperature dispersion is likely to be heat related.

A Window-Based Software For Fatigue Crack Growth Data Reduction, B. Keeton, Tarun Goswami

Biomedical, Industrial & Human Factors Engineering Faculty Publications

The objective of this research is to develop a Windows-based program to present the fatigue crack growth rate and mode I stress intensity factor range data. Microsoft Visual Basic was used to write the code. The program developed in this study calls out the input data in terms of crack length (α) and the number of cycles (Ν). Secant and seven point polynomial distribution was used to fit the data. The installation procedure for the program was copied onto a disk to install the program. Future work is needed to further modify the a-N data and therefore to present da/dN-ΔΚ …

Dwell Sensitivity Behavior And Modeling, E. Pyburn, Tarun Goswami

Biomedical, Industrial & Human Factors Engineering Faculty Publications

Since engineering materials are exposed to dwell-times in service, it is important to understand the effects of dwell times on the fatigue life. The mechanisms controlling deformation and failure under dwell conditions are in terms of metallographic damage namely; transgranular fracture, intergranular fracture, mixed intergranular transgranular fracture modes, surface striated damage, creep damage and oxidation. These mechanisms are very difficult to include in a quantitative model to predict the dwell sensitivity behavior of high temperature materials. Published creep-fatigue data were compiled from various sources for a number of materials such as copper alloys (NARloy-Z, AMZ1RC), steel alloys (9Cr-lMo), and nickel …

Failure Modes Of Biomedical Implants, Andrew Gratton, Bert Buford, Tarun Goswami, Dana Gaddykurten, Larry Suva

Biomedical, Industrial & Human Factors Engineering Faculty Publications

The metallic biomaterials are very well known among various biomaterials. Stainless steel was used successfully as an implant material in the surgical field, then Vitallium, cobalt based alloys were used as implant materials. Titanium is the newest metallic biomaterial among three main metallic biomaterials, stainless steels, Co-based alloys and titanium alloys. These materials are used for the instrumentation replacing failed hard tissue, for example, artificial hip joints, artificial knee joints, bone plates, dental implants and in similar applications. Biocompatibility characteristics of titanium alloys make it the preferred choice for such applications, additional factors being light weight, excellent mechanical properties, corrosion …

Assessment Of Slip Severity Among Different Age Groups, Thurmon E. Lockhart, Jeffrey C. Woldstad, James L. Smith

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

A laboratory study utilizing new techniques for assessing slip severity was conducted to investigate the process of inadvertent slips and falls among different age groups. Forty-two subjects from three age groups (young adults, middle-aged, and the elderly) walked on a rectangular track at a self-determined pace. Without the subjects’ awareness, a slippery floor surface was placed on the track over a force-measuring platform. The results indicated that elderly adults’ friction demand (RCOF) was not significantly different from the young and middle-aged adults. The older adults, however, fell more often than the other age groups. Fall recovery threshold (FRT) measures indicated …

A Simulation Based Experiment For Comparing Amhs Performance In A Semiconductor Fabrication Facility, Gerald Mackulak, Paul Savory

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

As the cost and complexity of constructing a semiconductor fabrication facility increases, responsive tools are needed for designing and planning its operations. Discrete-event simulation paired with design of experiments is an effective combination. This article demonstrates how simulation in combination with design of experiments is used to compare the intrabay layout of two automated material handling systems. The difference in stocker robot utilization, number of vehicle moves per hour, and average delivery time for the two intrabay layouts will be compared using a fractional factorial experimental design. The study demonstrates that the distributed storage option is preferable for maximizing manufacturing …

The Need For Pfc Abatement In Semiconductor Manufacturing, Mohsen Manesh, Brian Kendrick

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

Perfluorocompounds (PFCs) are highly stable chemical compounds used in two integral steps of semiconductor manufacturing: chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chambers and etch chambers. Unfortunately, PFCs are also greenhouse gases linked to global warming. This, combined with their long atmospheric lifetimes gives them global warming potentials much higher than C02 the principal greenhouse gas. In a series of voluntary agreements with the United States and other national governments, the worldwide semiconductor industry has set a goal of reducing PFC emissions to 90% of their 1995 levels. To reach this goal, researchers have explored four main methods of reduction: substitution of PFCs, …

Acuta Enews January 2002, Vol 31, No. 1

ACUTA Newsletters

In This Issue

Univ. of Wisconsin-Stout Wins Baldrige Award

Bringing New Members to ACUTA

DC Update

Managing the Cable Distribution Plant

What Are You Afraid Of? (Risk Analysis)

Board Report

New Members

Job Postings

Utilizing The Internet To Improve Student Learning In A First Course In Engineering Economy With Real-World Unsolved Problems In Collaboration With Industry, Janis P. Terpenny, William G. Sullivan, Harpreet Singh, Kimberly Sward

Janis P. Terpenny

This paper reports on results of an experiment to investigate whether technology and the Internet facilitate student learning of Engineering Economy through real world problems in collaboration with industry. An overview of the organization and administration of the collaborative projects is presented. Learning aids and Internet tools are included in this discussion. Assessment results of student performance and perception are also presented. It was found using a bootstrap sample, at a significance level of 0.05, that the grade point average (GPA) of students working on projects in collaboration with industry administered through a variety of tools over the Internet (Experimental …

Integrating Critical Information On Flight Deck Displays, Patricia May Ververs, Michael C. Dorneich, Michael D. Good, Joshua Lee Downs

Michael C. Dorneich

Honeywell Laboratories has developed a concept for integrating multiple sources of data concerning information outside the aircraft. The concept, ANCOA (Alerting and Notification for Conditions Outside the Aircraft), was conceived as means for reducing error conflicts and establishing a clear prioritization among currently independent and disparate alerting systems for hazards external to the aircraft (e.g., TCAS, EGPWS). This paper documents an empirical evaluation of ANCOA by 12 professional pilots. The concept was evaluated in Honeywell Laboratories’ Flight Simulation Laboratory in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Two core ANCOA features were manipulated and compared. The first was the integration of information by comparing ANCOA’s …

Flow Shop Scheduling Problem: A Computational Study, Amr Arisha, Paul Young, Mohie El Baradie

Conference papers

A computational study has been developed to obtain optimal / near optimal solution for the flow shop scheduling problem with make-span minimization as the primary criterion and the minimization of either the mean completion time, total waiting time or total idle time as the secondary criterion. The objective is to determine a sequence of operations in which to process ‘n’ jobs on ‘m’ machines in same order (flow shop environment) where skipping is allowed. The Simulation approach for deterministic and stochastic flow shop scheduling has been developed. It reads and manipulates data for 500 jobs on 500 machines. Different factorial …

Creep-Fatigue Life Prediction Of Low Alloy Steels, James Toland, Tarun Goswami

Biomedical, Industrial & Human Factors Engineering Faculty Publications

The creep-fatigue behavior of Cr-Mo steels has been examined from published data. The published data were compiled in an earlier effort and used in this paper to develop a multivariate best-fit equation to predict the low cycle fatigue life. The fatigue test temperatures were representative of temperatures experienced in nuclear power plants, which varied from room temperature to 600°C. Within this temperature range, depending upon the test parameters used, creep and fatigue processes interact and failure occurs in the lowcycle fatigue regime.

Effect Of Exposure Time On The Fatigue Crack Growth Behavior Of Aircraft Skin Material, Kathryn Lemasters, Tarun Goswami

Biomedical, Industrial & Human Factors Engineering Faculty Publications

The objective of this research project is to identify the effects of service exposure on aircraft materials. The senior author participated in the KC-135 Corrosion Prevention Program conducted by the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. Data from this research program was analyzed to compare the fatigue crack growth rates of aged aircraft materials with those of virgin materials. 2024-T3(clad) Middle Tension (M(T)) specimens were machined from the fuselage and upper wing skins of a retired aircraft. Fatigue crack growth rate (da/dN) and mode 1 stress intensity factor range (Δ K) plots were generated for both sets of data. The …

Statistical Modeling Of Fatigue Crack Growth, Ignacio Guerra, Tarun Goswami

Biomedical, Industrial & Human Factors Engineering Faculty Publications

The objective of this research is to fit normal and lognormal distributions to fatigue crack growth rate (da/dN) data and present the data in terms of cumulative frequency distribution (f (x)) and a variant of da/dN and mode I stress intensity factor range (ΔΚ), z. The probability density functions (F(da/dN)) were also plotted for the data. The data was compiled from open literature, conducted on a hot section turbine disk material Inconel 718 under a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) project, through the Advisory Group on Aerospace Research and Development (AGARD). Incomel 718 was tested at 650°C utilizing various specimen …

Life Prediction Of Stainless Steels Used In Nuclear Reactors, Jonathan Clark, Tarun Goswami

Biomedical, Industrial & Human Factors Engineering Faculty Publications

Effects of dwell times and temperature on creep-fatigue behavior of stainless steels have been examined from published data. The temperatures of these materials varied from 430°C to 816°C. Within this temperature range creep and fatigue processes interact and failure occurs in the low-cycle regime. A least square best fit equation was developed from the compiled data fitting all the data points. The variables were temperature, strain rate, dwell time and strain range and were used with and without transformation functions to derive the equation. Statistical analysis was performed showing a very high coefficient of correlation value for the life prediction …

Application Of Artificial Neural Networks To Sensitivity Analysis And Modeling Of Small Office Buildings, Quan Tang

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Sensitivity analysis and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) are the most extensively used techniques in studying the input-output relationship in building thermal systems. However, both MLR and most methods for sensitivity analysis do not account for nonlinear components embedded in building energy systems. Thus, their results might be distorted.

In this study, the Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) technique was applied to sensitivity analysis and modeling of an imaginary small office in order to (a) examine how the annual energy consumption responded to 40 building design parameters and evaluate relative contributions of these parameters to the variation of the building energy performance, …

Use Of Snow-Covered Ranges To Estimate Explosives Residues From High-Order Detonations Of Army Munitions, Thomas F. Jenkins, Marianne E. Walsh, Paul H. Miyares, Alan D. Hewitt, Nicholas H. Collins, Thomas A. Ranney

US Army Research

Estimation of the amounts of residues resulting from high-order detonation of munitions is complicated by the presence of residues from previous detonations and the inability to easily obtain adequately-sized samples to overcome spatial heterogeneity in residue deposition. This study was conducted to assess the use of snow-covered ranges to provide these types of estimates. Specifically, snow-covered ranges were used to estimate the amount of explosives residues that resulted from detonation of individual mortar rounds and a small antipersonnel land mine. At Fort Drum, NY, 60 mm mortars were fired and at Camp Ethan Allen, VT, 81 mm mortars and a …

Use Of Pyrolysis Gc/Ms For Predicting Emission Byproducts From The Incineration Of Double-Base Propellant, Donald Cropek, Patricia Kemme, Jean Day, Jane Cochran

US Army Research

Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry was used to analyze the pyrolytic byproducts from an Army-unique propellant compound (AA2) that is composed of predominantly nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin. Compounds produced by AA2 pyrolysis were compared to compounds detected in the gaseous effluent from AA2 incineration. The light permanent gases and most of the higher molecular weight byproducts produced by AA2 incineration are replicated by laboratory pyrolysis on AA2. The reverse case also holds whereby 18 out of 24 high molecular weight AA2 pyrolytic byproducts are found in the incinerator emissions. Poor matching, however, was obtained between the two processes for the volatile, water-soluble species. …

A Comparative Study Of Just-In-Time (Jit) And Theory Of Constraints (Toc) Systems With Varying Constraint Locations And Operational Characteristics, Pirun Hemmondharop

Doctoral Dissertations

"Various researchers have extolled the benefits of Theory of Constraints (TOC), Just-in-Time (JIT), and other manufacturing strategies. Some supporters of JIT argue it is the least costly, while others point to the overall benefits of TOC. There are conflicting claims as to the best manufacturing philosophies which is compounded by the fact that no one system is best in every situation. The success of a production system truly depends on the manufacturing environment rather than the philosophy being used. This study uses computer simulations of differing manufacturing environments to compare Just-in-Time (JIT) and Theory of Constraints (TOC) philosophies over two …

Physical-Statistical Modeling And Optimization Of Cardiovascular Systems, Dongping Du

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Heart disease remains the No.1 leading cause of death in U.S. and in the world. To improve cardiac care services, there is an urgent need of developing early diagnosis of heart diseases and optimal intervention strategies. As such, it calls upon a better understanding of the pathology of heart diseases.

Computer simulation and modeling have been widely applied to overcome many practical and ethical limitations in in-vivo, ex-vivo, and whole-animal experiments. Computer experiments provide physiologists and cardiologists an indispensable tool to characterize, model and analyze cardiac function both in healthy and in diseased heart. Most importantly, simulation modeling empowers the …

A Task Process Pre-Experimental Model, Holly A. H. Handley, Alexander H. Lewis

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The Adaptive Architectures for Command and Control (A2C2) program is a multidisciplinary program that employs a scientific basis for designing and analyzing adaptive and reconfigurable organizational structures at the Joint Task Force level. As part of its unique model-driven experimentation method, a pre-experimental model is created to support the formulation of hypotheses, the determination of key variables and parameter values, and the prediction of organizational performance. The pre-experimental model is used to explore the parameters of the experimental design in order to determine the appropriate region to conduct officer-in-the-loop experiments at the Naval Postgraduate School. A pre-experimental model based on …

Continuity In Dynamic Coalition Operations, Holly A. H. Handley, Larry K. Wentz, Alexander H. Levis

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The combination of participating organizations in a coalition operation often changes over time; the coalition is dynamic and evolves over the course of its mission. A given organization may participate in the coalition only at the stage where its expertise or resources are most needed, while other organizations may participate through the entire course of the operation. As these are independent organizations coming together for a limited time to meet a specific goal, the structure of the coalition must be able to accommodate the different command arrangements, procedures, and other characteristics of each organization. In order to develop a theory …

Adaptive Critic-Based Neural Network Controller For Uncertain Nonlinear Systems With Unknown Deadzones, Pingan He, Jagannathan Sarangapani, S. N. Balakrishnan

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A multilayer neural network (NN) controller in discrete-time is designed to deliver a desired tracking performance for a class of nonlinear systems with input deadzones. This multilayer NN controller has an adaptive critic NN architecture with two NNs for compensating the deadzone nonlinearity and a third NN for approximating the dynamics of the nonlinear system. A reinforcement learning scheme in discrete-time is proposed for the adaptive critic NN deadzone compensator, where the learning is performed based on a certain performance measure, which is supplied from a critic. The adaptive generating NN rejects the errors induced by the deadzone whereas a …

A Distributed Discrete-Time Neural Network Architecture For Pattern Allocation And Control, A.T. Chronopoulos, Jagannathan Sarangapani

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.