Engineering Commons^™

Research Incentive Programs For Closures Of Public And Private Grade Crossings, Julius Codjoe

Publications

Vehicle-train crashes that occur at highway-rail crossings result in injuries, fatalities, and damage to equipment. In order to reduce the number of vehicle-train crashes, Federal Railroad Administration requires states which have challenges with crossing safety, including Louisiana, to develop a State Action Plan to improve grade crossing safety. Consequently, identification of specific solutions for improving safety at crossings was included in the 2015 Louisiana Transportation Plan as one of its objectives. This study seeks to identify and evaluate current and new incentive programs that encourage closure of at-grade railroad crossings to reduce the number of potential vehicle-train collision points, and …

Incorporating Diegetic Elements To Increase Engagement In Games For Engineering Education, Katherine Smith, Yuzhong Shen, Anthony W. Dean

VMASC Publications

One of the difficulties in developing educational games is maintaining player engagement. This engagement is critical for games to provide effective learning experiences. One way to increase engagement in games is to limit interruptions during game play. In educational games, this can be accomplished by incorporating learning or problem-solving elements diegetically. Diegetic elements are those that are part of the game scene. With this in mind, a series of games for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education has been developed focusing on content in courses that are prerequisites to the engineering curriculum. These games cover topics in pre-calculus, calculus, …

Sensor Technologies For Intelligent Transportation Systems, Juan Guerrero-Ibáñez, Sherali Zeadally, Juan Contreras-Castillo

Information Science Faculty Publications

Modern society faces serious problems with transportation systems, including but not limited to traffic congestion, safety, and pollution. Information communication technologies have gained increasing attention and importance in modern transportation systems. Automotive manufacturers are developing in-vehicle sensors and their applications in different areas including safety, traffic management, and infotainment. Government institutions are implementing roadside infrastructures such as cameras and sensors to collect data about environmental and traffic conditions. By seamlessly integrating vehicles and sensing devices, their sensing and communication capabilities can be leveraged to achieve smart and intelligent transportation systems. We discuss how sensor technology can be integrated with the …

Influence Of Steel Fibres On The Behaviour Of Rpc Circular Columns Under Different Loading Conditions, Ahmed Al-Tikrite, Muhammad N. S Hadi

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

An experimental program was conducted to investigate the effect of inclusion of steel fibres on the behaviour of Reactive Powder Concrete (RPC) columns. Three different types of steel fibre were used: micro straight steel fibre (MF), macro deformed steel fibre (DF) and waste steel fibre (WF) recovered from discarded tyres. In addition, a hybridization of steel fibres was made up to produce waste-industrial hybridization (WHF) (MF, DF and WF). Twenty reinforced RPC column specimens were prepared and tested under axial concentric, eccentric and flexural loading. Results of testing demonstrated that the ultimate axial load and the corresponding axial deformation increased …

Behaviour Of Carbon Fibre-Reinforced Polymer-Confined Hollow Circular Concrete Columns With Inner Polyvinyl Chloride Tube, Hussamaldeen Goaiz, Tao Yu, Muhammad N. S Hadi

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Existing studies have shown that the use of an inner tube can significantly enhance the effectiveness of confinement in fibre-reinforced polymer-confined hollow columns. The inner tube used in the existing studies, however, generally had a large stiffness and also served as longitudinal reinforcement. The use of a stiff inner tube is inefficient in resisting bending for hollow columns with a relatively small void and may be unnecessary for constraining the inner surface of concrete. Against this background, this article presents the first experimental study on fibre-reinforced polymer-confined hollow columns with an inner polyvinyl chloride tube. The experimental program included a …

Local Buckling Of Steel Plates In Concrete-Filled Steel Tubular Columns At Elevated Temperatures, Ghanim Mohammed Kamil, Qing Quan Liang, Muhammad N. S Hadi

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Local buckling remarkably reduces the strength of steel plates in rectangular thin-walled concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) columns at ambient temperature. This effect is more remarkable at elevated temperature. However, there have been very limited experimental and numerical investigations on the local and post-local buckling behavior of steel plates in CFST columns at elevated temperatures. This paper presents numerical studies on the local and post-local buckling behavior of thin steel plates under stress gradients in rectangular CFST columns at elevated temperatures. For this purpose, finite element models are developed, accounting for geometric and material nonlinearities at elevated temperatures. The initial geometric …

The Impact Of Imaging Modality (Ct Vs Mri) And Patient Position (Supine Vs Prone) On Tangential Whole Breast Radiation Therapy Planning, Kylie L. Dundas, Elise M. Pogson, Vikneswary Batumalai, Geoff P. Delaney, Miriam M. Boxer, Mei Ling Yap, Verity Ahern, Christine Chan, Steven David, Marion Dimigen, Jennifer A. Harvey, Eng-Siew Koh, Karen Lim, George Papadatos, Elizabeth Lazarus, Joseph Descellar, Peter E. Metcalfe, Lois C. Holloway

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) versus computed tomography (CT)-derived planning target volumes (PTVs), in both supine and prone positions, for whole breast (WB) radiation therapy.

Methods and materials

Four WB radiation therapy plans were generated for 28 patients in which PTVs were generated based on CT or MRI data alone in both supine and prone positions. A 6-MV tangential intensity modulated radiation therapy technique was used, with plans designated as ideal, acceptable, or noncompliant. Dose metrics for PTVs and organs at risk were compared to analyze any differences …

Development And Evaluation Of An Mre-Based Absorber With Two Individually Controllable Natural Frequencies, Jie Yang, Shuaishuai Sun, J Chi, Donghong Ning, Haiping Du, Shan-Wen Zhang, Weihua Li, Shixin Mao

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Adaptive tuned mass absorbers, which are based on magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) have been widely accepted for vibration absorption due to their frequency shift capability. Wider frequency bandwidth indicates more effectiveness in reducing vibrations. In order to broaden the effective bandwidth of the MRE-based absorber, this study proposes a new design consisting of an eccentric mass. This design enables the absorber to have two natural frequencies: the rotational natural frequency and the translational one. These two natural frequencies can be controlled separately by adjusting the MRE stiffness and the eccentric length. This design not only broadens the effective bandwidth of the …

Position Control Of A Soft Prosthetic Finger With Limited Feedback Information, Solen Kumbay-Yildiz, Rahim Mutlu, Gursel Alici

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

One of the challenging research questions in soft robotics is the establishment of valid mathematical models and control techniques under limited feedback conditions. A soft robotic system will typically have a continuum or monolithic body seamlessly embodying its actuation and sensing elements, accompanied by mechanical structure, and even the energy source, much like a biological system. In this study, we propose a relay sliding mode controller based on the input - output model (RSMC-IO), which is a simple but effective control approach that does not require a complete system model, to control the tip position of a soft prosthetic finger, …

Driver Intention Based Coordinate Control Of Regenerative And Plugging Braking For Electric Vehicles With In-Wheel Pmsms, Wenfei Li, Haiping Du, Weihua Li

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Electric vehicles have been the focus of the automotive industry in recent years. However, relatively small driving range of electric vehicles makes it not be broadly adopted in the market. Regenerative braking is one of the most effective ways to extend the endurance of electric vehicles. To sufficiently utilise the regenerative braking of electric vehicles and explore the potential of the electric motor plugging braking capability to simplify the braking system structure and reduce the cost, a new braking strategy based on the driver's braking intention and motor working characteristics is proposed. Driver's braking intention is classified as the emergency …

Modeling Supply Network Configuration Problems With Varying Demand Profiles, Subodha Dharmapriya, Senevi Kiridena, Nagesh Shukla

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

In this paper, we develop a novel multi-objective modeling approach to support supply network configuration decisions, while considering varying demand profiles. In so doing, we illustrate how such an approach could contribute to building supply network robustness and resilience. The proposed model entails two key objectives; minimizing lead time and cost across the supply network. The solution approach first employs a bidding mechanism to select a set of supply network entities that match with a given demand profile from a candidate pool of entities. It then applies the popular technique known as N on-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II to generate a …

Combined Message Passing Based Sbl With Dirichlet Process Prior For Sparse Signal Recovery With Multiple Measurement Vectors, Zhengdao Yuan, Chuanzong Zhang, Qinghua Guo, Zhongyong Wang, Xinhua Lu, Sheng Wu

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

This paper concerns the problem of sparse signal recovery with multiple measurement vectors, where the sparse signal vectors share multiple supports (i.e., the signal vectors can be clustered and the vectors in a cluster share a common support) and the prior knowledge on the supports of the vectors is unknown. This problem can be solved using sparse Bayesian learning (SBL) with Dirichlet process (DP) as hyper-prior, which is named DP-SBL in this paper. This work aims to design efficient inference algorithms. The variational inference for DP mixtures, in particular mean field (MF) inference, has been studied, and applying it to …

Delay-Dependent Fault-Tolerant Shape Control For Stochastic Distribution Systems, Yu Cheng, Long Chen, Tao Li, Haiping Du

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

A new adaptive delay-dependent fault-tolerant shape control strategy is proposed for the stochastic distribution system with time-delay, which can effectively make the output probability density function (PDF) track a given target distribution. In this framework, firstly, a system model based on PDF with the actuator failure is constructed. And then, an adaptive delay-dependent fault-tolerant controller, which include a normal controller and an adaptive compensation controller is designed. The normal controller can track the given output distribution with an optimized performance index when there is no actuator fault, and the adaptive compensation controller can reduce the negative effects caused by the …

Design Of A Single-Layer Microchannel For Continuous Sheathless Single-Stream Particle Inertial Focusing, Yan Zhang, Jun Zhang, Fei Tang, Weihua Li, Xiaohao Wang

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

High-throughput, high-precision single-stream focusing of microparticles has a potentially wide range of applications in biochemical analysis and clinical diagnosis. In this work, we develop a sheathless three-dimensional (3D) particle-focusing method in a single-layer microchannel. This novel microchannel consists of periodic high-aspect-ratio curved channels and straight channels. The proposed method takes advantage of both the curved channels, which induce Dean flow to promote particle migration, and straight channels, which suppress the remaining stirring effects of Dean flow to stabilize the achieved particle focusing. The 3D particle focusing is demonstrated experimentally, and the mechanism is analyzed theoretically. The effects of flow rate, …

Multizone Soundfield Reproduction With Privacy- And Quality-Based Speech Masking Filters, Jacob Donley, Christian H. Ritz, W Kleijn

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Reproducing zones of personal sound is a challenging signal processing problem which has garnered considerable research interest in recent years. We introduce in this work an extended method to multizone soundfield reproduction which overcomes issues with speech privacy and quality. Measures of Speech Intelligibility Contrast (SIC) and speech quality are used as cost functions in an optimisation of speech privacy and quality. Novel spatial and (temporal) frequency domain speech masker filter designs are proposed to accompany the optimisation process. Spatial masking filters are designed using multizone soundfield algorithms which are dependent on the target speech multizone reproduction. Combinations of estimates …

Simultaneous Estimation Of Primary And Cross-Channel Gains For Underlay Cognitive Radios, Junteng Yao, Ming Jin, Qinghua Guo, Youming Li

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

In underlay cognitive radios, the primary-channel gain from a primary transmitter (PU-Tx) to a primary receiver (PU-Rx) and the cross-channel gain from a cognitive transmitter (SU-Tx) to the PU-Rx are crucial for the SU-Tx in controlling its transmit power when sharing spectrum with primary users (PUs). However, the non-cooperation between PUs and secondary users (SUs) makes it difficult for the SU-Tx to acquire the primary-channel and cross-channel gains, in particular when the channel reciprocity is not applicable. Most existing works focus on cross-channel gain estimation and are often based on the channel reciprocity. In this work, we propose a scheme …

Lattice Boltzmann Simulation Of Flow And Heat Transfer Evolution Inside Encapsulated Phase Change Materials Due To Natural Convection Melting, Qi Lin, Shugang Wang, Zhenjun Ma, Jihong Wang, Tengfei Zhang

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

A comprehensive study of the melting process inside a capsule can potentially take full advantages of latent heat of phase change materials (PCMs). The present study was devoted to the problem of complex interaction of natural convection and melting of PCMs inside a spherical capsule under differen t sizes. The numerical results, simulated by lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), were compared with experimental data and published simulations. The results showed that LBM presented desirable accuracy compared to traditional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods. Then, the effects of non-uniform PCM properties, expressed by the solid/liquid thermal diffusivity ratio, on the melting rate …

Analog Least Mean Square Loop For Self-Interference Cancellation In Generalized Continuous Wave Sar, Anh Tuyen Le, Yijiang Nan, Le Chung Tran, Xiaojing Huang, Y J. Guo, J (Yiannis) Vardaxoglou

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Generalized continuous wave synthetic aperture radar (GCW-SAR) is a promising new imaging radar system since it applies the full-duplex (FD) transmission technique to achieve continuous signaling in order to overcome several fundamental limitations of the conventional pulsed SARs. As in any FD wireless communication system, self-interference (SI) is also a key problem which can impact on the GCW-SAR system. In this paper, the analog least mean square (ALMS) loop in the radio frequency domain is adopted to cancel the SI for a GCW-SAR system with periodic chirp signaling. The average residual SI power after the ALMS loop is analyzed theoretically …

Experimental Investigation And Assessment Of Internal Stability Of Granular Filters Under One-Dimensional Static And Cyclic Loading, Jahanzaib Israr, Jehangir Israr

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Internal instability occurs when the finer fraction of a filter escapes with the infiltrates, causing permanent changes to its particle size distribution and rendering it ineffective. Thus far, numerous criteria based on particle and constriction size distributions have been proposed to assess the potential of internal instability. This paper reports the results of pressure gradient controlled hydraulic tests performed on granular soils including silt-sand-gravel, sand, and sand-gravel mixtures with their uniformity coefficients ranging from 1 to 304 and compacted at varying relative densities between 0 and 100 %. Select dense samples were then subjected to a series of hydraulic tests …

Axial Compressive Behavior Of Steel Equal Angle Section-Reinforced Square High-Strength Concrete Column, Ayoob Ibrahim, M Neaz Sheikh, Muhammad N. S Hadi

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

A new method of reinforcing concrete columns with steel equal angle (SEA) sections has been investigated. A total of 12 square high-strength concrete (HSC) column specimens (with 210 mm [8.26 in.] sides and 600 mm [23.62 in.] height) reinforced longitudinally with either steel bars or SEA sections were cast and tested. The lateral tie spacing of specimens varied from 50 to 400 mm (1.96 to 15.74 in.). The influences of the type of longitudinal reinforcement and the spacing of lateral ties on the behavior of HSC specimens under axial compression were investigated. Experimental results showed that the use of the …

Numerical Simulation Of The Shear Behavior Of Rock Joints Filled With Unsaturated Soil, Libin Gong, Jan Nemcik, Ting X. Ren

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Weak infilled discontinuities commonly exist in rock masses, in which the infill degree of saturation largely influences the overalljoint shear behavior and ground stability. However, so far, research on the shear of infilled joints at unsaturated conditions is rare, especiallythose performed in numerical simulation. To the authors'knowledge, no attempts have been made to investigate the shear-induced variationsin unsaturated soil parameters, which are vital for proposing the infilled-joint constitutive models. For thefirst time, a series of constant watercontent direct shear tests on the unsaturated infilled-joint soil were conducted using the numerical software Fast Lagrangian Analysis ofContinua (FLAC)/Two-Phase Flow. Intrinsic soil-water retention …

Pairing-Dependent Superconductivity Gap And Nonholonomic Andreev Reflection In Weyl Semimetal/Weyl Superconductor Heterojunctions, Jun Fang, Wenye Duan, Junfeng Liu, C Zhang, Zhongshui Ma

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

We study superconductivity states mediated by the BCS and Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) pairings in superconducting Weyl semimetals. It is found that a mixture of BCS and FFLO pairings results in a distinctive double-gap structure for superconducting states. With a heterojunction of a Weyl semimetal and a superconducting Weyl semimetal, we demonstrate the nonholonomic Andreev reflection and show that the intra- and internode Andreev reflections increase at the edges of the effective gap. The influence of interface potentials on the Andreev reflections is investigated. The conductance spectra arising from the mixed superconducting pairings is also analyzed.

Metamorphic Testing 20 Years Later: A Hands-On Introduction, Sergio Segura, Zhiquan Zhou

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Two of the key challenges in software testing are the automated generation of test cases, and the identification of failures by checking test outputs. Both challenges are effectively addressed by metamorphic testing (MT), a software testing technique where failures are not revealed by checking an individual concrete output, but by checking the relations among the inputs and outputs of multiple executions of the software under test. Two decades after its introduction, MT is becoming a fully-fledged testing paradigm with successful applications in multiple domains including, among others, big data engineering, simulation and modeling, compilers, machine learning programs, autonomous cars and …

On The First Direct Observation Of De-Twinning In A Twinning-Induced Plasticity Steel, Scott Mccormack, Wei Wen, Elena V. Pereloma, Carlos N. Tome, Azdiar Adil Gazder, Ahmed A. Saleh

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Electron back-scattering diffraction was used to track the microstructure evolution of a fully annealed Fe-24Mn-3Al-2Si-1Ni-0.06C TWinning Induced Plasticity (TWIP) steel during interrupted reverse (tension-compression) loading. Direct observation of the same selected area revealed that all deformation twins formed during forward tension loading (0.128 true strain) were removed upon subsequent reverse compression loading (0.031 true strain). Consequently, the present study provides the first unambiguous experimental evidence of de-twinning during the reverse loading of a polycrystalline TWIP steel. The reverse loading behaviour was simulated by a dislocation-based hardening model embedded in the Visco-Plastic Self-Consistent (VPSC) polycrystal framework taking into account the accumulation …

Locomotion Analysis And Optimization Of Actinomorphic Robots With Soft Arms Actuated By Shape Memory Alloy Wires, Chunshan Liu, Erbao Dong, Min Xu, Gursel Alici, Jie Yang

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

This article presents the locomotion analysis and optimization of actinomorphic soft robots, which are composed of soft arms actuated by shape memory alloy wires. The soft arm that is a composite modular structure is actuated by a self-sensing feedback control strategy. A theoretical model was established to describe the deformation of the soft arm, combining the Euler-Bernoulli beam model of the soft arm with the constitutive model and the heat transfer model of the shape memory alloy wire. The kinematics of the actinomorphic soft robot was analyzed using the modified Denavit-Hartenberg method, and the motion equation of the actinomorphic soft …

Experimental Performance Analysis And Evaluation Of A Novel Frost-Free Air Source Heat Pump System, Zhihua Wang, Fenghao Wang, Zhenjun Ma, Mengjie Song, Wenke Fan

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

To tackle the problem of frosting occurred on the outdoor coil surface when an air source heat pump (ASHP) is operated in winter, a novel frost-free ASHP system has been developed. However, the dehumidification performance and the frost-free time of the system operated are highly dependent on the electronic expansion valve (EEV) opening of the 1st stage throttle. In addition, the coefficient of performance (COP) of the systems is controlled by the EEV opening of the 2nd stage throttle. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the effect of the EEV opening on the system thermodynamic performance in …

Geant4-Dna Example Applications For Track Structure Simulations In Liquid Water: A Report From The Geant4-Dna Project, Sebastien Incerti, Ioanna Kyriakou, M A. Bernal, M Bordage, Z Francis, Susanna Guatelli, Vladimir N. Ivanchenko, M Karamitros, N Lampe, Sang Bae Lee, Sylvain Meylan, C Min, W Shin, P Nieminen, Dosatsu Sakata, N Tang, Carmen Villagrasa, H Tran, J M. Brown

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

This Special Report presents a description of Geant4-DNA user applications dedicated to the simulation of track structures (TS) in liquid water and associated physical quantities (e.g., range, stopping power, mean free path.). These example applications are included in the Geant4 Monte Carlo toolkit and are available in open access. Each application is described and comparisons to recent international recommendations are shown (e.g., ICRU, MIRD), when available. The influence of physics models available in Geant4-DNA for the simulation of electron interactions in liquid water is discussed. Thanks to these applications, the authors show that the most recent sets of physics models …

Hot Corrosion Of Borate Melt And Interface Chemistry Of Borate-Coated Steel Under Tribological Stimulation, Hoang Bach Tran, Anh Kiet Tieu, Shanhong Wan, Hongtao Zhu, R Liu

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Hot corrosion mechanism of Sodium Borate was investigated on mild-carbon steel at 800 °C by multiple surface characterizations. In addition, effects of tribological exposure on the interface chemistry were also examined in details by mean of ball-on-disk testing. The occurrence of interfacial reaction is characterized by the formation of a Sodium-rich film on the borate melt/oxide phase boundary. The basic dissolution reaction is accompanied by fluxing action of the protective scale in the case of static oxidation. External stressed shearing profoundly modifies the interface chemistry by establishing a hierarchical boundary film with remarkably low Oxygen density which renders improved oxidation …

New Technology To Produce 1 Gpa Low Carbon Microalloyed Steels From Cast Strip, Andrii Kostryzhev, Olexandra Marenych

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Global economy requires steel with further increasing mechanical properties and simultaneously decreasing price. In mass manufacturing three major methods can be used to increase strength: (i) increase microalloying element additions (increases cost), (ii) decrease deformation temperature and (iii) increase cooling rate after high temperature processing (both can be challenging for equipment). Thin strip casting is an effective way to reduce cost as it brings a reduction in number of deformation passes and shortens the production line. However, the mechanical properties can be missed due to insufficient microstructure development. In this article, we investigate a recently proposed technology based on Austenite …

Plant Breeding Selection Tools Built On Factor Analytic Mixed Models For Multi-Environment Trial Data, Alison B. Smith, Brian R. Cullis

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

An advanced and widely used method of analysis for multi-environment trial data involves a linear mixed model with factor analytic (FA) variance structures for the variety by environment effects. This model can accommodate unbalanced data, that is, not all varieties in all environments, it allows the use of pedigree information and appropriate accommodation of individual trial experimental designs, and most importantly the FA structure for the variety by environment effects is parsimonious and regularly results in a good fit to the data. The model provides accurate predictions of the variety effects for every environment in the data-set but this constitutes …