Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Fuel Consumption Models For Tractors With Partial Drawbar Loads, Bryan Jeffrey Smith

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Three models for predicting fuel consumption for agricultural tractors with partial drawbar loads were compared. Data were collected from eight John Deere tractors, JD 7230R (e23), 7250R (e23), 7270R (e23), 7290R (e23), 7290R (IVT), 8320R (16 speed), 8345RT (IVT), 8370R (IVT). The tractors were tested with 7 load levels per speed at four different travel speeds as close as possible to 4, 7.5, 10, and 13 km·h^-1. The IVT tractors were operated in Auto mode and the geared tractors were shifted up three gears and throttled back to the same travel speeds as the IVT tractors. The 7 …

Lessons Learned From A Simulation Project In Construction Education, Saeed Rokooei, James D. Goedert

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Faculty Publications

Virtual Interactive Construction Education (VICE) is a simulation designed for construction education. The purpose was to provide the traditional lecture-based construction contents along with supplementary instructions in a project-based learning environment. Six modules were proposed as a curriculum delivery guideline including: single span bridge, residential building, light commercial, heavy commercial, highway, and segmental bridge. The single span bridge was the first module used for prototype development providing an opportunity to design, analyze, implement, and test for effectiveness. This paper describes the design steps and results of this three-year research project. VICE-Bridge required participants to sequentially order the construction activities and …

Energy Harvesting And Storage: The Catalyst To The Power Constraint For Leveraging Internet Of Things (Iot) On Trains, Kelechi Nwogu

Computer and Electronics Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The success of Wireless Sensor Networks is heavily constrained by its reliance on storage technology like batteries, which are a finite resource. Whilst the number of transistors in an IC doubles every 18 months, the energy density of batteries is relatively flat during the same time period. This is a key challenge in leveraging the Internet of Things on trains.

The gravity of this problem is increased by an order of magnitude when the network is to be scaled up to hundreds or thousands of nodes. Comprehensive research and development efforts have been devoted to building ultra-low power sensors. These …

Eight Principles Of Uncertainty For Life Cycle Assessment Of Biofuel Systems, Adam J. Liska

Adam Liska Papers

New environmental regulations in the USA and Europe require a reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation fuels as a component of climate change mitigation policy. The US Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) requires GHG emission reductions from the life cycles of biofuels compared to gasoline, by 20% for ethanol from maize grain (maize-ethanol), 60% for cellulosic ethanol, and 50% for other advanced biofuels. To determine these reductions, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employs life cycle assessment (LCA) methods which were not used previously in national environmental regulations. These regulations, entitled the “Renewable Fuel Standard …

Size Effects In Human Visual Inspection For Micro/Meso Scale Parts, Sri Harsha Kavuri

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Visual inspection has been a major method of quality control in conventional manufacturing processes for the last fifty years. Utilizing trained human inspectors to perform this visual inspection has been the most effective means of maintaining quality control. Extensive research has been performed to understand the factors that influence the human inspection process.

In the recent years, there has been a significant emphasis on manufacturing at the smaller end of the size-spectrum such as Micro and Meso scale manufacturing. Quality control at becomes a challenging task due to the extremely small sizes. Several automated visual inspection techniques have been proposed …

Influence Of Spatial Variations Of Railroad Track Stiffness And Material Inclusions On Fatigue Life, Celestin Nkundineza

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Railroad transportation is very important for economic growth and effective maintenance is one critical factor for its economic sustainability. The high repetitive forces from a moving railcar induce cyclic stresses that lead to rail bending and potential deterioration due to fatigue crack initiation and propagation. Previous research for prediction of fatigue life has been done under the assumptions of a uniform track bed and a homogeneous rail. However the spatial variation of the track stiffness is expected to increase the maximum stresses in the rail and, therefore, accelerate the fatigue process. The research described in this dissertation is focused on …

Ventilation Rates And Airflow Pathways In Patient Rooms: A Case Study Of Bioaerosol Containment And Removal, Ehsan S. Mousavi, Kevin R. Grosskopf

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Most studies on the transmission of infectious airborne disease have focused on patient room air changes per hour (ACH) and how ACH provides pathogen dilution and removal. The logical but mostly unproven premise is that greater air change rates reduce the concentration of infectious particles and thus, the probability of airborne disease transmission. Recently, a growing body of research suggests pathways between pathogenic source (patient) and control (exhaust) may be the dominant environmental factor. While increases in airborne disease transmission have been associated with ventilation rates below 2 ACH, comparatively less data are available to quantify the benefits of higher …

Chemical Storage Of Wind Energy By Renewable Methanol Production: Feasibility Analysis Using A Multi-Criteria Decision Matrix, Michael J. Matzen, Mahdi H. Alhajji, Yaşar Demirel

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

This study is for the technoeconomic analysis of an integral facility consisting of wind energy-based electrolytic hydrogen production, bioethanol-based carbon dioxide capture and compression, and direct methanol synthesis. ASPEN Plus was used to simulate the facility producing 97.01 mt (metric tons) methanol/day using 138.37 mt CO2/day and 18.56 mt H₂/day. A discounted cash flow diagram for the integral facility is used for the economic analysis at various hydrogen production costs and methanol selling prices. The feasibility analysis is based on a multi-criteria decision matrix consisting of economic and sustainability indicators comparing renewable and non-renewable methanol productions. The overall …

Development Of A Row-Crop Tractor Data Acquisition System, James Roeber, Santosh Pitla, Roger M. Hoy, Joe D. Luck

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Conference Presentations and White Papers

Numerous advancements in machinery performance on row-crop agricultural tractors have been made in recent years. Currently, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) only tests predetermined points (E.g., max. power, max. torque) for drawbar and hydraulic power. This method of testing has been used for many years with the tractor at a steady state which is usually not typical of row-crop operations. A data acquisition system (DAQ) was designed that records implement energy consumption (E.g., drawbar loading, PTO power, and hydraulic power). The system used a LabVIEW program and a compact data acquisition system (cDAQ) to record data from …