Engineering Commons^™

Co2 Curing Efficiency For Cement Paste And Mortars Produced By A Low Water-To-Cement Ratio, Seong Ho Han, Yubin Jun, Tae Yong Shin, Jae Hong Kim

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Curing by CO₂ is a way to utilize CO₂ to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Placing early-age cement paste in a CO₂ chamber or pressure vessel accelerates its strength development. Cement carbonation is attributed to the quickened strength development, and CO₂ uptake can be quantitatively evaluated by measuring CO₂ gas pressure loss in the pressure vessel. A decrease in CO₂ gas pressure is observed with all cement pastes and mortar samples regardless of the mix proportion and the casting method; one method involves compacting a low water-to-cement ratio mix, and the other method comprises a …

Numerical Solution Of Strongly Guided Modes Propagating In Sapphire Crystal Fibers (Α-Al2o3) For Uv, Vis/Ir Wave-Guiding, Farhan Mumtaz, Muhammad Aqueel Ashraf, Yutang Dai, Wenbin Hu

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A numerical solution, using the general formulation of the transcendental equation and eigenmode values, is proposed to demonstrate number of strongly guided modes propagating in sapphire crystal fibers (SCF). The SCF is considered to have hexagonal geometry of a single crystal and multimode step-index profile. Several distinguished characteristics are naturally embedded in SCF compared to other ordinary optical fibers. The eigenmodes of the SCF are numerically determined and are a combination of transverse electric, transverse magnetic, and hybrid modes. The numerical solution for wave-guiding in ultra-violet (UV), visible infrared (VIS/IR) spectrum, is investigated by the number of modal propagations under …

Asymmetric Semiconductor Nanostructures For Particle Manipulation, Jaykob Maser, Joshua Rovey

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

We explore how material selection affects the electromagnetic response of closely positioned asymmetric nanostructures. COMSOL Multiphysics is used to model the system, and the materials studied include gold (Au), gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium tin oxide (ITO), and aluminum zinc oxide (AZO). All materials produce average electric field magnitudes on the order of 10 MV/m. We conclude that the ITO and AZO nanostructures produce the most uniform electric field response over the entire domain of incident wavelengths and that GaAs is least thermally stable in a vacuum environment due to its low heat conductivity.

Drug-Loaded Chitosan Film Prepared Via Facile Solution Casting And Air-Drying Of Plain Water-Based Chitosan Solution For Ocular Drug Delivery, Boxuan Li, Juan Wang, Qin Gui, Hu Yang

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Chitosan is a nature-based polymer with low toxicity, excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability. However, the intractable solubility of chitosan in water and most conventional solvents hampers its biomedical applications. Following the dissolution method for dissolving chitosan in plain water developed by us, chitosan was dissolved in ionic liquid followed by overnight freezing at −20 °C and subsequent solvent exchange with plain water at room temperature. In this study, we fabricated a drug-carrying chitosan film via solution casting and air-drying by using the plain water-based chitosan solution. Specifically, brimonidine tartrate (BT), an antiglaucoma drug, was dissolved in the plain-water based solution and …

A Data-Driven Approach For Predicting Nepheline Crystallization In High-Level Waste Glasses, Irmak Sargin, Charmayne E. Lonergan, John D. Vienna, John S. Mccloy, Scott P. Beckman

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

High-level waste (HLW) glasses with high alumina content are prone to nepheline crystallization during the slow canister cooling that is experienced during large-scale production. Because of its detrimental effects on glass durability, nepheline (NaAlSiO₄) precipitation must be avoided; however, developing robust, predictive models for nepheline crystallization behavior in compositionally complex HLW glasses is difficult. Using overly conservative constraints to predict nepheline formation can limit the waste loading to lower than the achievable capacity. In this study, a robust data-driven model using five compositional features has been developed to predict nepheline formation. A new descriptor is introduced called the …

Processing And Properties Of Medium-Mn Trip Steel To Obtain A Two-Stage Trip Behavior, D. M. Field, L. G. Garza-Martinez, D. C. Van Aken

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Two medium-Mn steels of nominal composition 0.15C-2.0Si-10.5Mn-(0.75, 1.5) Al-0.04Nb-balFe (wt pct) were processed to produce sub-micron grain sizes of 0.65 and 0.80 μm. Mechanical testing was performed in three successive conditions: hot rolled, intercritically annealed, and cold rolled with subsequent intercritical annealing. Intercritical annealing was performed at 923 K for 20 hours. Electron-backscattered diffraction and X-ray diffraction were utilized to characterize the microstructure, consisting of α-ferrite, α-martensite, ε-martensite, and γ-austenite. Microstructural constituents were tracked during tensile deformation, and it was found that both steels exhibited two-stage TRIP with γ-austenite martensitically transforming first to ε-martensite and as strain increased ε-martensite transformed …

Corrigendum: “A Correlation For Interfacial Area Concentration In High Void Fraction Flows In Large Diameter Channels” ([Chem. Eng. Sci.131 (2015) 172–186] (2015) 131 (172–186), (S0009250915002547), (10.1016/J.Ces.2015.04.004)), Joshua P. Schlegel, T. Hibiki

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

There is a Typographical Mistake in Eq. (21), Used in the Derivation of the Final Model, Which Should Read [Fourmula Presented] This Typographical Mistake is Also Present in Eq. (22b), Which is Necessary for Implementation of the Final Model, Which Should Read

Service Life Of Prestressed High-Strength Concrete Pile In Marine Environment Considering Effects Of Concrete Stratification And Temperature, Lin Li, Weibing Gong, Jingpei Li

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Prestressed high-strength concrete (PHC) piles have advantages of light weight and high load carrying capacity, which have been widely applied in coastal and offshore engineering. However, PHC piles serving in the coastal or offshore regions have already undergone severe durability problem. This paper presents a comprehensive method for predicting the service life of PHC piles in the marine environment, which reasonably takes the temperature effects and the concrete stratification caused by centrifugation of PHC piles into account. The pile service life is divided into the diffusion and corrosion periods. The service life of the diffusion period is predicted by solving …

Evaluation Of Standard And Semantically-Augmented Distance Metrics For Neurology Patients, Daniel B. Hier, Jonathan Kopel, Steven U. Brint, Donald C. Wunsch, Gayla R. Olbricht, Sima Azizi, Blaine Allen

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Background: Patient distances can be calculated based on signs and symptoms derived from an ontological hierarchy. There is controversy as to whether patient distance metrics that consider the semantic similarity between concepts can outperform standard patient distance metrics that are agnostic to concept similarity. The choice of distance metric can dominate the performance of classification or clustering algorithms. Our objective was to determine if semantically augmented distance metrics would outperform standard metrics on machine learning tasks.

Methods: We converted the neurological findings from 382 published neurology cases into sets of concepts with corresponding machine-readable codes. We calculated patient distances by …

Characterizing And Modeling The Progressive Damage Of Off-Axis Thermoplastic Plies: Effect Of Ply Confinement, Ditho Pulungan, Arief Yudhanto, Gilles Lubineau

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Although the mechanisms of degradation are, overall, quite similar between thermoset and thermoplastic composites, thermoplastic laminates exhibit a higher ductility. Because of that, classical models developed for thermosets fail in predicting accurately the response of thermoplastic-based laminates. Here, we demonstrate that simulations based on the properties identified on isolated thermoplastics unidirectional plies, as usually done for thermosets, result in large errors. This is explained by the significant load-bearing capacity of the ply in the transverse direction that remains even after the first-ply failure, as a result of the confinement provided by adjacent plies. This effect also exists in thermosets, but …

Aligned Fingolimod-Releasing Electrospun Fibers Increase Dorsal Root Ganglia Neurite Extension And Decrease Schwann Cell Expression Of Promyelinating Factors, Devan L. Puhl, Jessica L. Funnell, Anthony R. D'Amato, Jonathan Bao, Dmitri V. Zagorevski, Yelena Pressman, Daniel Morone, Agnes E. Haggerty, Martin Oudega, Ryan J. Gilbert

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Researchers are investigating the use of biomaterials with aligned guidance cues, like those provided by aligned electro spun fibers, to facilitate axonal growth across critical-length peripheral nerve defects. To enhance the regenerative outcomes further, these aligned fibers can be designed to provide local, sustained release of therapeutics. The drug fingolimod improved peripheral nerve regeneration in preclinical rodent models by stimulating a pro-regenerative Schwann cell phenotype and axonal growth. However, the systemic delivery of fingolimod for nerve repair can lead to adverse effects, so it is necessary to develop a means of providing sustained delivery of fingolimod local to the injury. …

Influence Of Aggregates In Concrete On Fiber-Optic Based Thermal Integrity Profiling Analysis Of Concrete Structures, Ruoyu Zhong, Wen Deng

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Fiber-optic sensor has drawn wide attention in the non-destructive testing and evaluation of civil engineering materials due to its high accuracy and resolution as well as cost-efficiency. Currently, using optical fiber as the temperature sensor is proposed to conduct the thermal integrity profiling (TIP) of concrete structures. However, concrete is not a thermally homogeneous material as assumed in current studies of concrete TIP. Its essential components, such as aggregates may cause thermal inhomogeneity problems when implementing fiber-optic sensors for TIP. In this paper, we use the concrete structures with different grades of aggregates to conduct numerical simulation for non-destructive thermal …

Resonance Of Droplets In Constricted Capillary Tubes: Critical Factors And Nonlinearity, Chao Zeng, Wen Deng, M. Bayani Cardenas

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Resonance of droplets in constricted capillary tubes responding to external vibratory excitation can be theoretically characterized by the abstract coefficients such as resonant frequency and rate of damping. A physically sound model, however, is needed to relate these abstract coefficients to the fluid properties of two-phase fluid, geometric properties of tube, and features of excited waves. A hydrodynamic model, based on the moving-boundary control volume concept and the transient oscillatory velocity profile, was developed to characterize the resonance of droplets. This model was validated against computational fluid dynamics simulation results expressed in both time and frequency domains. Dominant factors including …

Pooled-Fund Project No. Tpf-5(395), Genda Chen

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

The goals of the pooled-fund initiative are to engage closely with several state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) in the early stage of technology development at the INSPIRE University Transportation Center, and leverage the center resources to develop case studies, protocols, and guidelines that can be adopted by state DOTs for bridge inspection without adversely impacting traffic. The initiative involves the integration, field demonstration and documentation of a robotic system of structural crawlers, unmanned aerial vehicles, a multimodal unmanned vehicle, nondestructive devices, sensors, and data analytics. Depending on the interest of participating DOTs, the objectives of this initiative include, but are …

Vision-Based Non-Gps Uav Guidance For Bridge Inspection, Bo Shang

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

No abstract provided.

Uav-Based Smart Rock Localization For Determination Of Bridge Scour Depth, Haibin Zhang

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

First Place Award in recognition of outstanding achievement in the 2020 Annual Meeting Graduate Student Poster Competition sponsored by INSPIRE University Transportation Center

Bridge Inspection Video Data Analysis For Data-Driven Asset Management, Muhammad Monjurul Karim

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

Second Place Award in recognition of outstanding achievement in the 2020 Annual Meeting Graduate Student Poster Competition sponsored by INSPIRE University Transportation Center

Automatic Impact-Sounding Acoustic Inspection Of Concrete Structure, Jinglun Feng

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

No abstract provided.

Experimental Investigation Of A Novel Smart Shear Key For Earthquake And Tsunami Mitigation, Xinzhe Yuan

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

No abstract provided.

Autonomous Ultrasonic Thickness Measurement Of Steel Bridge Members Using Mobile Sensors, Yu Otsuki

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

Third Place Award in recognition of outstanding achievement in the 2020 Annual Meeting Graduate Student Poster Competition sponsored by INSPIRE University Transportation Center

Data-Driven Risk Assessment Of Bridges Subject To Corrosion And Scour, Yijian Zhang

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

No abstract provided.

Clamping Design For Bridge Inspection Robot Deployment Systems (Birds) Prototype Ii, Bo Shang

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

No abstract provided.

A U-Shaped Complementary Open Loop Defective Ground Structure With Slow Wave Structure For Mode Conversion And Common Mode Noise Suppression, Liang Zhang, Qiang Ming Cai, Xiao Bo Yu, Lin Zhu, Chao Zhang, Yinglei Ren, Jun Fan

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

With the increase of signal rate, differential interconnection becomes more and more widely used. However, when the differential pair is asymmetric in layout, e.g., bending lines, common mode noise will be produced in the circuit, which may further cause EMI problems. In this paper, an efficient method, i.e., combing a U-shaped complementary open loop defective ground structure (DGS) with adding slow wave structure at the inner bending line, is proposed to suppress the differential-to-common mode conversion and common-mode noise of right-angle bend discontinuity for differential signaling. The simulation results show that the mode conversion can be reduced to less than-50dB …

Fext Reduction Using Mushroom Structures Thickened Soldermask For Ddr5 Pcbs, Xiao Bo Yu, Qiang Ming Cai, Liang Zhang, Chao Zhang, Lin Zhu, Yinglei Ren, Jun Fan

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Far-end crosstalk (FEXT) between adjacent signal lines is one of the most critical factors affecting signal integrity (SI) in double data rate 5 (DDR5) printed circuit boards (PCBs). In this paper, a new method for FEXT reduction, based on mushroom structures thickened solder mask (MSTS) for coupled signal lines, is proposed and investigated. From the simulated S-parameters results, FEXT of this proposed method can be suppressed among a very wide frequency range. Additionally, the FEXT is decreased more than 25dB around the main frequency of DDR5, compared with the traditional signal routing. Finally, both frequency and time domains results show …

Bridge Resilience Assessment With Inspire Data, Iris Tien

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

Robotic data collection, both automated and remote, will enable post-disaster assessment of bridge components where it would normally be difficult and potentially dangerous for manual inspection by field workers to do so.

This project aims to develop and validate a new framework that uses the data collected from the robotic exploration of infrastructure, particularly after a disaster, to assess the condition of bridges and prioritize these structures for repair. This will improve the resilience of the transportation system to disasters by targeting bridge repairs and enabling resources to be distributed more effectively across the system for more rapid recovery after …

Climbing Robots With Automated Deployment Of Sensors And Nde Devices For Steel Bridge Inspection, Hung La

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

The PI was a research scientist/faculty at Rutgers University who successfully developed in 2014 a Robotic Assisted Bridge Inspection Tool (RABIT) for bridge deck inspections. Other bridge elements, such as girders and columns, or even underside of bridge decks are difficult to access and remain a challenge for efficient inspection. Like visual inspection, current practices for bridge maintenance are equally time consuming and expensive. Automation of simple maintenance actions such as bearing cleaning and concrete sealing with robots will lead to a leap forward to the next-generation strategy of bridge maintenance.

This project aims to develop and prototype automated climbing …

Bridge Inspection Robot Deployment Systems (Birds), Bo Shang

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

Climbing robots for both concrete and steel bridges and UAVs are being developed to support bridge inspection with advanced evaluation technologies at the INSPIRE University Transportation Center. They are mostly applicable to large open areas with little or no obstacles. For I-shaped beams or girders, climbing along the cross section of these structural members is not a trial task. In particular, a climbing robot may not have a sufficient footprint to make a safe turn from the inner to outer face of a top or bottom flange. In this case, an unmanned vehicle is conceived to facilitate I-girder inspection and …

Autonomous Wall-Climbing Robots For Inspection And Maintenance Of Concrete Bridges, Jizhong Xiao

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

Since 2002, the PI’s group has developed four generations of wall-climbing robots for NDE inspection of civil infrastructure. These robots combine the advantages of aerodynamic attraction and suction to achieve a desirable balance of strong adhesion and high mobility. They don’t require perfect sealing and can thus move on smooth and rough surfaces, such as brick, concrete, stucco, wood, glass, and metal. For example, Rise-Rover uses two drive modules to carry their middle compartment with payload up to 450 N. Ground penetrating radar (GPR)-Rover and Mini GPR-Rover are custom designed to carry a GSSI’s GPR antenna for subsurface defect detection …

Mobile-Manipulating Uavs For Sensor Installation, Bridge Inspection And Maintenance, Paul Oh

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

Mobile manipulating UAVs have great potential for bridge inspection and maintenance. Since 2002, the PI has developed UAVs that could fly through in-and-around buildings and tunnels. Collision avoidance in such cluttered near-Earth environments has been a key challenge. The advent of light-weight, computationally powerful cameras led to breakthroughs in SLAM even though SLAM-based autonomous aerial navigation around bridges remains an unsolved problem.

In 2007, the PI integrated a mobile manipulation function into UAVs, greatly extending the capabilities of UAVs from passive survey of environments with cameras to active interaction with environments using limbs. Mobile-manipulating UAVs have since been demonstrated to …

Hyperspectral Imaging Analysis Of Steel Corrosion, Abdullah Alhaj

INSPIRE-UTC Annual Meetings

No abstract provided.