Engineering Commons^™

A Coaxial Cable Fabry-Perot Interferometer For Sensing Applications, Jie Huang, Tao Wang, Lei Hua, Jun Fan, Hai Xiao, Ming Luo

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper reports a novel coaxial cable Fabry-Perot interferometer for sensing applications. The sensor is fabricated by drilling two holes half-way into a coaxial cable. The device physics was described. The temperature and strain responses of the sensor were tested. The measurement error was calculated and analyzed.

On The Equivalences And Differences Of Evolutionary Algorithms, Haiping Maa, Dan Simon, Minrui Feic, Zixiang Chen

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) are fast and robust computation methods for global optimization, and have been widely used in many real-world applications. We first conceptually discuss the equivalences of various popular EAs including genetic algorithm (GA), biogeography-based optimization (BBO), differential evolution (DE), evolution strategy (ES) and particle swarm optimization (PSO). We find that the basic versions of BBO, DE, ES and PSO are equal to the GA with global uniform recombination (GA/GUR) under certain conditions. Then we discuss their differences based on biological motivations and implementation details, and point out that their distinctions enhance the diversity of EA research and applications. …

Calculation Of Magnet Losses In Concentrated-Winding Permanent-Magnet Synchronous Machines Using A Computationally Efficient Finite-Element Method, Peng Zhang, Gennadi Y. Sizov, Jiangbiao He, Dan M. Ionel, Nabeel Demerdash

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

The proposed hybrid method combines computationally efficient finite-element analysis (CE-FEA) with a new analytical formulation for eddy-current losses in the permanent magnets (PMs) of sine-wave current-regulated brushless synchronous motors. The CE-FEA only employs a reduced set of magnetostatic solutions yielding substantial reductions in the computational time, as compared with the conventional FEA. The 3-D end effects and the effect of pulsewidth-modulation switching harmonics are incorporated in the analytical calculations. The algorithms are applied to two fractional-slot concentrated-winding interior PM motors with different circumferential and axial PM block segmentation arrangements. The method is validated against 2-D and 3-D time-stepping FEA.

Integration Of Oofdm With Rof For High Data Rates Long-Haul Optical Communications, Fahad Almasoudi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One of the advanced technologies in optical fiber communication systems that support efficient convergence of wireless and optical access network structure is Radio over Fiber (RoF). In RoF, light is modulated by using a radio signal and sent over an optical fiber link to simplify wireless access. The demand for high-speed wireless communications is increasing rapidly. To increase the capacity and bandwidth of the optical fiber communication system a Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (WDM) is used. In WDM, multiple optical carrier signals are multiplexed and transmitted over one optical fiber.

Optical Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OOFDM) technology commits to be a fundamental …

Meta-Routing: Synergistic Merging Of Message Routing And Link Maintenance, Mustafa A. Ayad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The maintenance of network connectivity is essential for effective and efficient mobile team operations. Achieving robust mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) connectivity requires a capable link maintenance mechanism especially if the network experiences expected intermittent connectivity due to a hostile environment. One applicable example of such network scenarios is multi-robot exploration for urban search and rescue (USAR). With the proliferation of these robotic networks, communication problems such as the link maintenance problem are subject to be raised quickly. Although various routing protocols for wireless ad hoc networks have been proposed, they solve the problems of message routing and link maintenance …

Power Fluctuations Smoothing And Regulations In Wind Turbine Generator Systems, Hamed Babazadehrokni

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Wind is one of the most popular renewable energy sources and it has the potential to become the biggest energy source in future. Since the wind does not always blow constantly, the output wind power is not constant which may make some problem for the power grid. According to the grid code which is set by independent system operator, ISO, wind turbine generator systems need to follow some standards such as the predetermined acceptable power fluctuations.

In order to smooth the output powers, the energy storage system and some power electronics modules are employed. The utilized power electronics modules in …

Digital Control Board For Phased Array Antenna Beam Steering In Adaptive Communication Applications, Mayur Bansal

Master's Theses

The application of adaptive communication techniques for mobile communications has attracted considerable interest in the last decade. One example of these techniques is spatial filtering through planar antenna array beam forming.

This thesis describes the development of a digital system that adaptively controls a phased array antenna. The radiating structure of the phased antenna array is tetrahedral-shaped and contains four antenna elements on each of its three faces. The overall system comprises of a digital control board with an external computer interface, an RF control board, and the phased antenna array. The RF controls the main lobe direction on the …

Dynamic Nanochannels For Biosensing Applications, Joseph B. Oxborrow

Theses and Dissertations

Inexpensive label-free detection of biomarker panels in serum could revolutionize earlycancer diagnosis and treatment. Such detection capabilities may be possible with dynamicnanochannels in conjunction with electrical impedance measurement. In Dr. Greg Nordin's lab I designed, fabricated and tested several iterations of these sensors with polydimethyl-siloxane microfluidics. The final design yielded a dynamic nanochannel array sensor thatshowed a 140% impedance change when exposed to 14µM bovine serum albumin in phos-phate buffered saline. For the geometry and noise limits of the tested device, simulationsindicated that a minimum detectable concentration of 20pM with specifically bound strep-tavidin should be possible. However, the polydimethylsiloxane approach …

Impact Of Renewable Power Integration On Vq Stability Margin, H. W. K. M. Amarasekara, Lasantha Meegahapola, Sarath Perera, Ashish Agalgaonkar

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

With the increasing number of grid connected renewable energy sources in power systems, the requirements for in-depth studies to characterise the dynamics of power systems have also intensified. In this paper, the impact of renewable power generators on power system voltage stability is analysed. As the renewable power penetration increases, having adequate levels of reactive power generation in power systems for voltage support is a major challenge. Therefore, in this work, special attention was placed on VQ instability to investigate static voltage stability of a test network embedded with renewable power generation. The impact of different control strategies associated with …

Preparation Of Benzoquinone From Phenol By Electrooxidation, Dong-Fang Niu, Cheng-Kai Yu, Xin-Sheng Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The benzoquinone was prepared from phenol by electrooxidation in an H-type cell with cation exchange membrane, in which lead plates were used both as an anode and a cathode, while H₂SO₄ was used as a supporting electrolyte. The effects of current density, concentration of sulphuric acid, concentrations of benzoquinone in electrolyte and extractant on the yields and efficiencies of electrolysis were investigated. Under the optimized conditions of current density being 4 A·dm^-2, concentration of sulphuric acid 1 mol·L^-1, passed charge 3.2 A·h, the yield and current efficiency of benzoquinone could reach 68% and …

Synthesis Of Pani/Nihcf Nanocomposite Particles And Eqcm Measurement Of Ion Exchange Properties In Solutions Containing Cd2+, Yu-Jiao Yang, Xiao-Gang Hao, Xu-Li Ma, Zhong-De Wang, Zhong-Lin Zhang, Nian-Chen Han

Journal of Electrochemistry

The PANI/NiHCF nanocomposite particles were synthesized on the CNTs-modified Pt substrate by one-step co-polymerization using cyclic voltammetry. Electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) technique was adopted to investigate the polymerization process of the nanocomposite particles and the mechanism of ion exchange in aqueous solution containing Cd²⁺． The morphology and structure of the as-prepared composite particles were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Combined with cyclic voltammetry (CV) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), the electrochemical behavior and the mechanism of ion exchange were also investigated in electrolytes of Cd^{2+ …}

A Comparative Study In Pretreatments Of Acid Chemical Wastewater By Electrochemical Oxidation And Ozonation, Han-Shui Liu, Su Yu, Shao-Ping Tong, Chun-An Ma

Journal of Electrochemistry

Under the condition of keeping certain acidity, the pretreatment efficiency of an acid chemical wastewater (pH 0.85) by electrochemical oxidation was compared with that by ozonation. The results showed that the electrochemical oxidation pretreatment could obtain a better result than the ozonation at pH 0.85. After the addition of 2 g·L^-1 NaCl and with the electrochemical oxidation pretreatment at 30 mA·cm^-2, the removal rate of chemical oxygen demand (CODCr) reached 43.4%, and the value of biochemical oxygen demand/chemical oxygen demand (BOD₅/COD_Cr) also increased from 0.034 to 0.14 in 20 minutes, indicating significantly improvement …

Experimental Design Methodology Applied To The Oxidation Of Quinolines In Aqueous Medium By Electro-Fenton Process, Souissi Souhaila Trabelsi, Nihal Oturan, Nizar Bellakhal, Mehmet A. Oturan

Journal of Electrochemistry

The degradation behavior of 8-hydroxyquinoleine sulfate (8-HQS), a model molecule of quinolines, was studied in an aqueous medium by electro-Fenton process using a carbon felt cathode and a platinum anode. The great oxidation ability of this process is due to a large production of hydroxyl radical (OH) by electrochemically induced Fenton’s reagent (H2O2, Fe2+). Hydroxyl radicals are very powerful oxidizing agents which react on organics up to complete mineralization. A factorial experimental design was used for determining the operating parameters on the degradation of 8-HQS in an aqueous medium. The results showed that the current intensity and the initial concentration …

Simulation Of Electromagnetic Waves In The Magnetized Cold Plasma By A Dgfetd Method, Ping Li, Li (Lijun) Jun Jiang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The properties of electromagnetic waves propagating in magnetized plasma slabs and scattering from plasma coated spheres are investigated using the discontinuous Galerkin finite-element time-domain (DGFETD) method. The magnetized plasma is a kind of gyroelectric anisotropic dispersive medium. This anisotropy must be described by an electric permittivity tensor with both nonzero diagonal and off-diagonal elements. Instead of doing the convolution directly in the time domain, an auxiliary differential equations (ADE) method is employed to represent the constitutive relation. The algorithm is validated by studying the transmission characteristics via electron-composed plasma slabs and radar cross section (RCS) of plasma-coated spheres. All numerical …

Trajectory Privacy Preservation In Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks, Xinyu Jin

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, there has been an enormous growth of location-aware devices, such as GPS embedded cell phones, mobile sensors and radio-frequency identification tags. The age of combining sensing, processing and communication in one device, gives rise to a vast number of applications leading to endless possibilities and a realization of mobile Wireless Sensor Network (mWSN) applications. As computing, sensing and communication become more ubiquitous, trajectory privacy becomes a critical piece of information and an important factor for commercial success. While on the move, sensor nodes continuously transmit data streams of sensed values and spatiotemporal information, known as ``trajectory information". …

Non-Coding Rna Covariance Model Combination Using Mixed Primary-Secondary Structure Alignment, Jennifer Smith

Jennifer A. Smith

Covariance models are very effective for finding new members of non-coding RNA sequence families in genomic data. However, the computation burden of applying CM-based search algorithms can be prohibitive. When annotating the genome of a newly sequenced organism it is usually desired to search the sequence data using a large number of ncRNA families. Computational burden can be reduced if the families are clustered into statistically similar models and a single cluster-average representative model produced. The database is then searched with the representative model for each cluster at a relatively low detection threshold. The output of this pre-filtered database is …

Operation-State Monitoring And Energization-Status Identification For Underground Power Cables By Magnetic Field Sensing, Xu Sun, Chun Kit Poon, Geoffrey Chan, Cher Leung Sum, Wing Kin Lee, Lijun Jiang, Philip W.T. Pong

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper, a novel nondestructive method based on magnetic field sensing is proposed for underground power cable operation-state monitoring and energization-status identification. The magnetic field distribution of the cable is studied using finite element method (FEM) for the power cable operating in different states, i.e., current-energized state (the cable is energized and carries load current) and voltage-energized state (the cable is energized but carries no load current). This innovative method can reconstruct all the source parameters of the cable based on a set of measured magnetic field values. Stochastic optimization technique is applied to realize the reconstruction based on …

A Clamped Dual-Ridged Waveguide Measurement System For The Broadband, Nondestructive Characterization Of Sheet Materials, Milo W. Hyde Iv, Michael J. Havrilla

Faculty Publications

A novel two-port probe which uses dual-ridged waveguides for the nondestructive, broadband characterization of sheet materials is presented. The new probe is shown to possess approximately 2 to 3 times the bandwidth of traditional coaxial and rectangular/circular waveguide probe systems while maintaining the structural robustness characteristic of rectangular/circular waveguide probe systems. The theoretical development of the probe is presented, namely, by applying Love’s equivalence theorem and enforcing the continuity of transverse fields at the dual-ridged waveguide apertures, a system of coupled magnetic field integral equations is derived. The system of coupled magnetic field integral equations is solved using the method …

Web-Based Visual Analytics For Social Media Data, Jun Xiang Tee, David S. Ebert

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Social media data provides valuable information about different events, trends and happenings around the world. Visual data analysis tasks for social media data have large computational and storage space requirements. Due to these restrictions, subdivision of data analysis tools into several layers such as Data, Business Logic or Algorithms, and Presentation Layer is often necessary to make them accessible for variety of clients. On server side, social media data analysis algorithms can be implemented and published in the form of web services. Visual Interface can then be implemented in the form of thin clients that call these web services for …

An Approximation Method For Solving Complex Electromagnetics Problems Using The Volume Integral Equation, Ryan Nobis, Dan Jiao, Saad Omar

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Solving complex electric field problems can lead researchers to a host of electronic characteristics about an inhomogeneous, complex object. However due to the complexity of these electric fields, a computer needs to be used in order to solve them. Due to the size of the matrices for some problems, methods for improving speed and performance for these algorithms are absolutely necessary. A Volume Integral Equation was used to solve the Electric Field Displacement, D, and approximate the differential term in this equation. The problem was next discretized using phasors, so that it can computationally be solved. Data used to form …

Finite-Difference Time-Domain Simulation Of Photovoltaic Structures Using A Graphical User Interface For Meep, Xin Tze Tee, Peter Bermel

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

There is a large and growing need for accurate full-wave optical simulations of complex systems such as photovoltaic (PV) cells, particularly at the nanoscale. A finite-difference time-domain tool known as MEEP offers this capability in principle, through C++ libraries and the Scheme programming language. For expert users, this approach has been quite successful, but there is also great interest from new and less frequent users in starting to use MEEP. In order to facilitate this process, we have developed a graphical user interface (GUI) for MEEP, geared toward simulation of 2D and 3D PV cell geometries, freely available through a …

Silver Oxide-Graphene Sensor For Hydrogen Peroxide, Austin D. Scherbarth, L Stanciu

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

A nonenzymatic, amperometric sensor for Hydrogen Peroxide (H₂O₂) was designed by drop coating glassy carbon electrodes (GCEs) with Silver Oxide (Ag₂O). Combining Ag₂O with Graphene Oxide and a polymer, PEDOT, was also attempted in order to increase stability and electrochemical properties. Using metal oxides along with Graphene Oxide for sensors has been done quite a bit, but Ag₂O itself has not been research extensively. So, in order to produce the best H₂O₂ sensor, the configuration of all components had to be optimized. Three different Ag₂O …

Mems Lab Simulation Tool, Oluwatosin D. Adeosun, Sambit Palit, Ankit Jain, Muhammad A. Alam

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

MEMS actuators have multiple design applications. Understanding their behavior as well as the ability to predict their actuation characteristics and voltage response is important when designing these actuators. In order to know these devices will behave, designers have to solve multiple analytical equations and experiments that can be very time consuming. Over the course of the summer a tool was created on nanoHUB that will allow users to enter information about a MEMS actuator and provide the voltage response of the actuator. To create the tool, scaling equations were first provided for various geometry configurations and the equations were next …

Synthesizing Bismuth Telluride Nanowires In A Large Scale And Investigating The Energy Filtering Effect By Blending Bismuth Telluride Nanowires And Silver Nanoparticle In Thermoelectrics, Henka Darsono, Haiyu Fang, Yue Wu

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

More than 50% of the energy sources becomes “waste” energy generally dissipated to the atmosphere in the form of heat. Thermoelectric effect is a conversion of temperature difference to electric voltage and can be used to convert the wasted heat to useful work. Nanomaterials have great potentials in the field of thermoelectric effect since they have properties that can allow higher efficiency in converting this wasted heat to electricity as compared to bulk materials. The purpose of this project is to develop a method to synthesize bismuth telluride (Bi₂Te₃) nanowires on a large scale and incorporate …

Pvpanel Sim 2.0 – Pv Module Simulation With Improved Device Physics, Mario Rentería Piñón, Muhammad A. Alam

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Efficiency is a crucial parameter to consider when fabricating thin film (TF) photovoltaic panels because there is a significant efficiency drop between lab scale cells and large modules. PVpanel Sim is a circuit simulation using SPICE tool which combines the effects of the major reasons of efficiency reduction, like shunt leakages and sheet resistance, with external factors like irradiance and the effects of shadowing in order to provide the user with a better understanding of how a solar panel would behave. For the current version of the tool a basic equivalent model for individual cells is used with ideal components, …

Stanford Stratified Structure Solver (S4) Simulation Tool, Chang Liu, Xufeng Wang, Peter Bermel

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The Stanford Stratified Structure Solver (S4) developed in 2012 allows for fast, accurate prediction of optical propagation through complex 3D structures. However, there have been two key challenges preventing wider use to date: the use of a specialized control language, and the difficulty of incorporating realistic materials parameters. In this project, both concerns have been addressed. We have constructed a graphical user interface as an alternative, using the open-source Rappture platform on nanoHUB. This has been combined with a comprehensive materials database known as PhotonicsDB, which incorporates materials optical data drawn from carefully vetted sources. An Octave script file was …

Assessing The Mvs Model For Nanotransistors, Siyang Liu, Xingshu Sun, Mark S. Lundstrom

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

A simple semi-empirical compact MOSFET model has been developed, which is called MIT virtual source (MVS) model. Compare to other model used in industry, MVS model requires only a few parameters, most of which can be directly obtained from experiment, and produce accurate results. One aim of this paper is to test the applicability of the MVS model to transistor made from MoS₂ rather than silicon. Another target is to determine the sustainability of the MVS model under different transistor tests. To achieve these goals, the MVS model will be used to fit the experimental data on MoS_{2 …}

Kinetic Monte Carlo Simulations, Jingyuan Liang, R. Edwin García, Ding-Wen (Tony) Chung, David Ely

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) is a set of scientific libraries designed to deploy kMC simulations intended to simulate the time evolution of some processes occurring in nature. kMC is currently allows the user to intuitively generate single component crystal lattices to simulate, post process, and visualize the kinetic Monte Carlo-based atomistic evolution of materials. kMC provides an interface to the Stochastic Parallel PARticle Kinetic Simulator (SPPARKS) [1] and is specifically designed to simulate individual atomic deposition (condensation) and dissolution (evaporation) events, while simultaneously tracking the surface and bulk crystallographic anisotropic diffusion. The main goal of this project is to create …

Thermophotovoltaic System Efficiency Simulation, Qingshuang Chen, Roman Shugayev, Peter Bermel

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) power systems, which convert heat into electricity using a photovoltaic diode to collect thermal radiation, have attracted increasing attention in recent work. It has recently been proposed that new optical structures such as photonic crystals can significantly improve the efficiency of these devices in two ways. First, the electronic bandgap of the TPV diode should match the photonic bandgap of the emitter, in order to ensure that the majority of emitted photons can be converted. Second, a photonic crystal short-pass optical filter can be added to the front of the TPV diode to send long wavelength photons back …

Thread Based Battery For Low Power E-Textile Applications, Pranav Laxmanan, Girish Chitnis, Rahim Rahimi, Babak Ziaie

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Textile electronic systems, or e-textiles, are on the rise but their utility is limited by its power demand. Potential applications include point-of-care diagnostic systems that would enable medical monitoring at the site of care. A small, inexpensive, and easy to use battery would enhance the capabilities of e-textile. Here we propose a thread based battery that attempts to satisfy these requirements. The thread based battery uses chemistry similar to an alkaline battery. The fabrication process involves patterning of current collector (silver epoxy or carbon ink) followed by zinc electroplating and manganese dioxide deposition. Thread present in between these two electrodes …