Engineering Commons^™

Hardware Assists For High Performance Computing Using A Mathematics Of Arrays, H. Pottinger, W. Eatherton, L. Mullin, T. Schiefelbein

Computer Science Technical Reports

Work in progress at the University of Missouri - Rolla on hardware assists for high performance computing and communication is presented. This research consists of a field programmable gate array based rapid prototyping environment (Chameleon) being used to evaluate hardware architectures for speedup of array partitioning and routing algorithms. These algorithms have been developed using a Mathematics of Arrays (MOA) and are optimal in the sense that they reduce normal array indexing operations to a series of primitive additions based on array shape. The method is simple yet powerful, produces algorithms which are provably correct, and are independent of dimensionality. …

An Fpga Based Reconfigurable Coprocessor Board Utilizing A Mathematics Of Arrays, H. Pottinger, W. Eatherton, T. Schiefelbein, L. Mullin, R. Ziegler

Computer Science Technical Reports

Work in progress at the University of Missouri-Rolla on hardware assists for high performance computing is presented. This research consists of a novel field programmable gate array (FPGA) based reconfigurable coprocessor board (the Chameleon Coprocessor) being used to evaluate hardware architectures for speedup of array computation algorithms. These algorithms have been developed using a Mathematics of Arrays (MOA) and are optimal in the sense that they reduce normal array cartesian indexing operations to a series of primitive additions and offsets based on array shape. The method is simple yet powerful, produces algorithms which are provably correct, and are independent of …

A Recursive Least Squares Training Algorithm For Multilayer Recurrent Neural Networks, Q. Xu, K. Krishnamurthy, Bruce M. Mcmillin, Wen Feng Lu

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Recurrent neural networks have the potential to perform significantly better than the commonly used feedforward neural networks due to their dynamical nature. However, they have received less attention because training algorithms/architectures have not been well developed. In this study, a recursive least squares algorithm to train recurrent neural networks with an arbitrary number of hidden layers is developed. The training algorithm is developed as an extension of the standard recursive estimation problem. Simulated results obtained for identification of the dynamics of a nonlinear dynamical system show promising results.

Identification Of Cutting Force In End Milling Operations Using Recurrent Neural Networks, Q. Xu, K. Krishnamurthy, Bruce M. Mcmillin, Wen Feng Lu

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The problem of identifying the cutting force in end milling operations is considered in this study. Recurrent neural networks are used here and are trained using a recursive least squares training algorithm. Training results for data obtained from a SAJO 3-axis vertical milling machine for steady slot cuts are presented. The results show that a recurrent neural network can learn the functional relationship between the feed rate and steady-state average resultant cutting force very well. Furthermore, results for the Mackey-Glass time series prediction problem are presented to illustrate the faster learning capability of the neural network scheme presented here

Work Measurement Decision Diagram Development And Application At Nasa's Kennedy Space Center, Susan L. Murray, Amanda M. Mitskevich, Joseph J. Pignatiello Jr., Timothy S. Barth, William W. Swart

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents a decision flow diagram developed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center for the selection of the appropriate work measurement methodologies for Space Shuttle processing.

Structural Behavior Of Perforated Web Elements Of Cold-Formed Steel Flexural Members Subjected To Web Crippling And A Combination Of Web Crippling And Bending, James E. Langan, Roger A. Laboube, Wei-Wen Yu

CCFSS Library (1939 - present)

PREFACE A study of structural behavior was conducted and design equations were developed that account for the degradation in web crippling capacity caused by web openings for single web cold-formed steel flexural members. The sections were subjected to a concentrated load applied to one flange. The load application satisfied the AISI definition for either End-One-Flange or Interior-One-Flange loading. The research findings enable the current design provisions for sections without web openings to be modified by a reduction factor equation to obtain the web crippling capacity for sections with web openings. The modified capacity is considered for the web crippling capacity …

Behavior Of Web Elements With Openings Subjected To Bending, Shear And The Combination Of Bending And Shear, Ming-Yang Shan, Roger A. Laboube, Wei-Wen Yu

CCFSS Library (1939 - present)

PREFACE The current design criteria for cold-formed steel members published by the American Iron and Steel Institute (1986,1991) do not provide sufficient information for the design of web elements with openings. The primary objective of this investigation was to study the structural behavior of cold-formed steel C-sections with web openings. This study deals with the structural behavior of beam webs subjected to bending moment, shear force and combined bending moment and shear force. This report presents a summary of experimental study and findings of analytical results. The test results indicate that the current AISI Specification does not account for the …

Tensile And Bearing Capacities Of Bolted Connections, Jeffrey L. Carril, Roger A. Laboube, Wei-Wen Yu

CCFSS Library (1939 - present)

PREFACE Experimental studies were preformed to investigate the tensile capacity, bearing capacity and the interaction of tension and bearing capacities of flat sheet cold-formed steel bolted connections. The effect of bolt hole deformation on the bearing capacity of bolted connections, was also investigated. In the experimental investigation, single shear flat sheet connections were investigated for single bolt and multiple bolt configurations. The intent of this investigation was to compare the current AISI and AISC Specifications for the nominal bearing and tensile capacities and to develop appropriate serviceability design criteria. A review and evaluation of past research on the tensile and …

Evaluation Of The Edge Strength Of Architectural Glass, Kevin L. Alexander

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

A mechanical device to test the edge strength of glass was developed in a previous study and was to be modified for more accurate results in this study. The mechanical apparatus allows for a load to be applied and directed along one diagonal of a glass beam making the other diagonal the neutral axis. This allows only one edge to be in tension where the failure is desired.

This study evaluated the scored edge lines and the other edge lines of annealed glass which was cut by an experienced glass cutter with a steel scoring wheel, and a carbide scoring …

The Reduction Of Dielectric Constant By Shaped Porosity, Weiping Cai

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

In multi-layer circuits, the reduction of the dielectric constant in substrate materials is becoming increasingly important, as the heat emission of the circuits increases with an increasing number of layers. One way to achieve a lower dielectric constant is to create porosity in the material. In this project, two types of substrate samples were made with coin-shaped porosity. One had holes of 8.0mm in diameter, and the other had holes of 2.5mm in diameter. The total vacuum area was 250mm², or 7.7% of the total area, in either case. It was hoped to discover a relationship between aspect …

Automation Of The Electrostatic Aerosol Classifier And The Continuous Flow Cloud Diffusion Chamber, Daron W. Dryer

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

Analyzing cloud condensation nuclei through the use of a Continuous Flow Thermal Diffusion Cloud Chamber (CFD) and an Electrostatic Aerosol Classifier (EAC) can be very time consuming. An alternative to manually monitoring these devices is to automate the equipment, thus freeing personnel for other research as well increasing CCN data collection.

Automation of the EAC will be carried out by digital command through the use of a Quick Basic program. This program will be run from an IBM personal computer outfitted with a digital input/output board.

RS-485 Standard will also be incorporated into the Quick Basic program in order to …

The Affects Of Butyl Acetate And Acetone On Plexiglass, Tracy E. Downs

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The actions that solvents take on polymers was the focus of the summer 1993 research. There were two goals: one was to measure the distances between the cracks that formed in the plexiglass and two was to determine the time of arrival of the cracks. Two solvents, butyl acetate and acetone were used to generate data on polymethyl methacrylate (PMNA/Plexiglass).

The measurement of the time of arrival of a crack was another goal. This quantity is related to the growth of the fractures. This was difficult since only a localized portion of the plexiglass sample could be viewed.

Skin Effects Due To Perforations -- A Study Of Analysis Techniques, Jon Michael Gibbs

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

Until 1991, two methods could be used to evaluate the skin effect due to perforations, the Brons and Marting Method and the Harris Method. Due to the simplicity of the technique, the Brons and Marting Method has been the preferred method of use in the petroleum industry. However, with the recent development of a third technique to evaluate the skin effect due to perforations, the need has arisen to evaluate each of these techniques to determine which method is the most accurate under given conditions. This paper reviews and compares each of the three methods for evaluating the perforations skin. …

An Extension Of Pdxi Data Models To Include Process Control Data, Joseph D. Graber

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The results described herein have culminated into the creation of an object model which extends an existing engineering data model to include process control data. The existing data model is described in Volume I of the deliverables for the Process Data Exchange Institute (PDXI) Data File Interchange Format Project. This object model was created using the OMTooP software package on Sun Stations in the Intelligent Systems Center(ISC) of the University of Missouri--Rolla (UMR). It expands on the classes of signal port, control element, and control system.

The Development Of Equipment Specification Form From The Pdxi Data Models, Justin M. Juengel

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The project has culminated in the development of a simplistic working model, based upon the existing data model created by the Process Data Exchange Institute (PDXI). This data model is depicted in Volume 1 of the deliverables for the PDXI Data File Interchange Format Project. The working model, based in part on the Planning Level Model and the Heat Transfer Model [1] of the overall data model, was then used to create an equipment specification form (Fig 1) for a heat exchanger, partially utilizing the standards set forth by the Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers Association (TEMA).

Solvent Recovery For An Extraction Process, Denise C. Ratcliff

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The solvent recovery project involves the recovery of a valuable solute, acetic acid, from a spend solvent stream generated in a laboratory extraction experiment. The majority of this project’s efforts center on the simulation of a ten-stage distillation column that will recover the acid. These simulation results will then be used to specify the ancillary process equipment needed for this distillation process.

Solubility Of Red Phosphorous In Lead, Sean E. Walker

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The determination of the solubility of red phosphorus in lead can be used to produce a plot of the solubility with respect to temperature and pressure. The plot is produced with experimental data, activity determination from present thermodynamic data, and compilation of the two sets of data into the semi-regular solution format. A lead-phosphorus solubility diagram is necessary to determine the amount phosphorus that will be absorbed by lead and will remain unreacted in a given process.

Automation Of Process Data Management, Stephen C. Chadwick

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The project goal is to create an automated system for managing data that describes a chemical process. The data is both graphical, such as piping and instrumentation diagrams, and numerical, such as pipe schedule and diameter. AutoLisp and C++ programs were developed and tested to simplify the creation of the automated system.

Fixed Site Facilitated Transport Of Oxygen And Nitrogen Through Plasma Polymer Films, Chad Dunnegan

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

A method of preparing plasma polymer films, in which metal chelate molecules are incorporated, is briefly outlined. The chemical reactivity of metal chelate molecules is preserved so that they may ”facilitate” the transport of oxygen molecules through the membrane. The method for testing permeability of the films is presented and results are analyzed with respect to the dual mode sorption model, applied to fixed site facilitated transport.

A Computer Graphic Teaching Aid For The Synthesis Of Four-Bar Linkages, Sew K. Woon

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

This project involves developing software for the use as a teaching tool in the classroom. The "four-bar linkage mechanism", often used in kinematic movement, is the main subject

The software provides a working environment to perform a graphical synthesis of a four- bar linkage to move one of the links through three specified positions in the plane. The construction process is facilitated by the built in kinematic intelligence so that the student can quickly and easily visualize the process. The construction lines are dynamically updated as the free parameters in the design are modified. This is particularly beneficial because it …

Fabrication Of Composite Laminates With Embedded Pizo-Ceramic Sensors And Actuators, Todd Nelson Kelsheimer

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The purpose of the research project is to investigate the methods for embedding pizo-ceramic sensors and actuators in a composite ( a fiber reinforced epoxy matrix). The importance of these sensors and actuators is vital in controlling the vibration and excessive strain on a structure causing fatigue or failure. With the control of these instabilities by the actuator, proper performance of the structure is achieved. Most sensors and actuators are surface mounted because (1) The sensor can pick up the greatest strain on the surface of a structure. (2) The actuator can create a stronger moment to counter balance the …

Forced Convective Diffusion And Interphase Heat And Mass Transfer: Computations Of Radial Functions, Temperature And Concentration Fields, And Presentation Of Local And Average Nusselt And Sherwood Numbers, Stephen Myers, X B. Reed Jr., N. Y. Shah, A. E. Penn

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

Theoretical calculations have been carried out for forced convective transport for uniform streaming and uniaxial and biaxial extensional axisymmetric flows past single spheres. Homogeneous and heterogeneous chemical reactions, both of first and of second order have also been or are presently being treated. Orthogonality and other properties of Legendre functions have been used, together with introduction of an eigenfunction expansion, to reduce the mathematical description from a partial differential equation with variable coefficients, which is nonlinear for homogeneous second order chemical reactions, to a system of coupled ordinary differential equations for the radial modes. The numerical solutions of the latter …

Improved Techniques For Manufacturing Layered Laminate Composite Materials, Michael D. Grabber

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

An increasingly important class of engineering materials are known as fiber reinforced composite materials. They offer outstanding mechanical properties, unique flexibility in design, and ease of fabrication. Because of this, fiber reinforced composites are being found more and more in such diverse applications as aircraft, space vehicles, automobiles, sporting goods, and appliances.

The main objective of this research project was to develop a procedure for which high quality composite plates could be manufactured. The procedure needed to be able to accommodate materials of various thicknesses as well as various sizes. We also wanted the procedure to be versatile enough to …

Electrical And Crystallographic Characterization Of Cdte Grown By The Vapor Transport Method, Jack L. Boone, Gene Cantwell, W. C. Harsch, J. E. Thomas, B. A. Foreman

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Crystallographic and electrical characterization techniques were performed on CdTe single crystal samples grown by the sublimation and physical vapor transport (SPVT) technique. The SPVT growth process described here has resulted in the routine growth of 45-50 mm diameter, 250-300 g boules of single crystal CdTe. As-grown material is p-type in the 5-10 ω cm range. Etch pit densities (EPD) are nominally 7x104 cm-2 along the [111] growth direction and 3x104 cm-2 along the [111] direction. X-ray full width at half maximum (FWHM) on recent samples is 8.6 arc sec compared to 8.5 arc sec theoretical. The as-grown p-type material displays …

Microspheres For Radiation Therapy, D. E. Day, Gary J. Ehrhardt

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Microspheres for radiation therapy of a mammal which have a non-radioactive isotope which emits beta or gamma radiation of therapeutic intensity upon being irradiated. The microspheres also contain elements which do not become radioactive upon irradiation. The chemical durability of the microspheres is such that they do not release a significant amount of radiation emitting radioisotope into the mammal’s system upon administration. Microspheres containing phosphorus or yttrium; and carbon, nitrogen, fluorine, sodium, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, potassium, vanadium, manganese, gallium, niobium, iodine and/or lead.

A Powerful And Computationally Efficient Algorithm For Transmission Loss Calculation, Anoop Nanda, David V. Uy, J. Nanda, E. Khan, Mariesa Crow

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper deals with the formulation of transmission loss P_L of a power system through a set of new coefficients (A coefficients) which are extremely efficient, exact and robust and suitable for real time application. Results on a few IEEE test systems are exciting and encouraging. They demonstrate that these A coefficients faithfully represent the system loss, are extremely robust and need not be re-evaluated for changes in the system loading conditions either for evaluation of system loss or cost of generation for economic load dispatch.

An Artifically Intelligent Word Recognizer To Control Appliances And Switches: The Home That Listens To Your Every Command, Joseph Bauer, Rick Steurer

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The most natural and informal means of communication and control is speech communication. Therefore, it also goes to say that control of home appliances, stereo, computer, and heating thermostat to name a few will naturally tend to this form of control.

A word recognition home controller was designed, constructed, and tested successfully. This paper will discuss the low-cost overall design, implementation, and results of a presently constructed and working "home controller." The results of this successful project in voice control are very promising and agree with the original hypothesis: A home that listens to your command is very much a …

Sporomorphs And Palynological Interpretations Of Lower Oligocene Strata From The Eastern Gulf Coast, U.S.A., Lisa M. Reeves

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The Vicksburg Group in the eastern Gulf Coast of the United States belongs to one of the most complete and continuous Paleogene strata in the world. Previous studies in this region have neglected the rich palynomorph assemblages of the Lower Oligocene units of the Vicksburg Group. Four samples from Wayne County Mississippi were analyzed for palynological information on the Vicksburg Group. The initial objective of the study was to understand the principles of palynology and the basis for sporomorph identification. A minimum of 300 specimens were counted per slide to determine the distribution of sporomorphs in the sediments. Two hundred …

A Design Methodology For A Multi-Fpga Based Rapid Prototyping System, William Eatherton

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The movement of universities from university-created digital design software to commercial design tools has resulted in a need for a revision of existing rapid prototyping systems. The rapid prototyping system created at North Carolina State University (NCSU) and centered on a FPGA-based board (called the Anyboard), was revised to use Mentor Graphics, a sophisticated industrial EDA tool, rather than board specific software. To provide a guide for future students at UMR and other schools using the Anyboard, an example design was created with Mentor Graphics to route data between a PC bus, SRAMs, and an arithmetic logic unit.

Development Of A Launch System For Performance Studies Of Small Aircraft Models, James J. Schneider

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

This paper presents a design of a launching system that can be employed for performance studies on small aircraft models. Further the article describes a design and development of an aircraft model for use with the system. initial analysis and testing of the system using the designed aircraft model will be presented.