Engineering Commons^™

Effect Of Tio2 Doping On Degradation Rate, Microstructure And Strength Of Borate Bioactive Glass Scaffolds, Romina Shafaghi, Omar Rodriguez, Sunjeev Phull, Emil H. Schemitsch, Paul Zalzal, Stephen D. Waldman, Marcello Papini, Mark R. Towler

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A titanium-containing borate glass series based on the system (52-X) B₂O₃–12CaO–6P₂O₅–14Na₂O–16ZnO-XTiO₂ with X varying from 0, 5 and 15 mol% of TiO2 incorporated, identified as BRT0, BRT1 and BRT3, respectively, were used in this study. Scaffolds (pore sizes, 165–230 μm and porosity, 53.51–69.51%) were prepared using a polymer foam replication technique. BRT3 scaffolds exhibited higher compressive strength (7.16 ± 0.22 MPa) when compared to BRT0 (6.02 ± 0.47 MPa) and BRT1 (5.65 ± 0.28 MPa) scaffolds with lower, or no, TiO₂ content. The solubility of the scaffolds decreased …

Dislocation-Oxide Interaction In Y2o3 Embedded Fe: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study, M. Mustafa Azeem, Qingyu Wang, Zhongyu Li, Yue Zhang

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Oxide dispersed strengthened (ODS) steel is an important candidate for Gen-IV reactors. Oxide embedded in Fe can help to trap irradiation defects and enhances the strength of steel. It was observed in this study that the size of oxide has a profound impact on the depinning mechanism. For smaller sizes, the oxide acts as a void; thus, letting the dislocation bypass without any shear. On the other hand, oxides larger than 2 nm generate new dislocation segments around themselves. The depinning is similar to that of Orowan mechanism and the strengthening effect is likely to be greater for larger oxides. …

The Bridge Newsletter Spring 2020, Missouri University Of Science And Technology

The Bridge Newsletter

-Studying fabrics, materials for facemasks
-New Missouri construction consortium
-Showalter honored by AGC
-New transportation center

Experimental Investigation Of Environmentally Friendly Drilling Fluid Additives (Mandarin Peels Powder) To Substitute The Conventional Chemicals Used In Water-Based Drilling Fluid, Abo Taleb T. Al-Hameedi, Husam H. Alkinani, Shari Dunn-Norman, Mustafa A. Al-Alwani, Abdullah F. Alshammari, Mohammed M. Alkhamis, Rusul A. Mutar, Waleed H. Al-Bazzaz

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The non-biodegradable additives used in controlling drilling fluid properties cause harm to the environment and personal safety. Thus, there is a need for alternative drilling fluid additives to reduce the amount of non-biodegradable waste disposed to the environment. This work investigates the potential of using mandarin peels powder (MPP), a food waste product, as a new environmentally friendly drilling fluid additive. A complete set of tests were conducted to recognize the impact of MPP on the drilling fluid properties. The results of MPP were compared to low viscosity polyanionic cellulose (PAC-LV), commonly used chemical additive for the drilling fluid. The …

Full-Set Measurements Dataset For A Water-Based Drilling Fluid Utilizing Biodegradable Environmentally Friendly Drilling Fluid Additives Generated From Waste, Abo Taleb Al-Hameedi, Husam Hasan Alkinani, Shari Dunn-Norman, Mohammed M. Alkhamis, Justin D. Feliz

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The oil and gas industry is moving towards more environmentally friendly practices. The environmental regulations regarding drilling waste management and disposal are motivating the industry to be more efficient with drilling operations. Environmentally friendly drilling fluid additives used in drilling operations reduces not only the negative implications on the environment but also reduces costs. This paper provides an experimental dataset of utilizing biodegradable waste materials as environmentally friendly drilling fluid additives. The data were collected through experimental evaluations of several waste materials including Potato Peels Powder (PPP), Mandarin Peels Powder (MPP), Fibrous Food Waste Material (FFWM), Palm Tree Leaves Powder …

A Flood Risk Management Program Of Wadi Baysh Dam On The Downstream Area: An Integration Of Hydrologic And Hydraulic Models, Jizan Region, Ksa, Mazen M. Abu-Abdullah, Ahmed M. Youssef, Norbert H. Maerz, Emad Abu-Alfadail, Hasan M. Al-Harbi, Nasser S. Al-Saadi

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

For public safety, especially for people who dwell in the valley that is located downstream of a dam site, as well as the protection of economic and environmental resources, risk management programs are urgently required all over the world. Despite the high safety standards of dams because of improved engineering and excellent construction in recent times, a zero-risk guarantee is not possible, and accidents can happen, triggered by natural hazards, human actions, or just because the dam is aging. In addition to that is the impact of potential climate change, which may not have been taken into account in the …

A Miniaturized Dual-Band Dual-Polarized Band-Notched Slot Antenna Array With High Isolation For Base Station Applications, Min Li, Rong Wang, Jamal Muhammad Yasir, Lijun Jiang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this article, a miniaturized dual-band dual-polarized slot antenna array is proposed for base station applications. It consists of two closely located $1\times 4$ subarrays for the digital cellular system (DCS) and wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) operations. The band-notched slot antenna (BNSA) is designed and adopted as the subarray element with radiation-suppression characteristic at notch frequencies. The notch frequency for one subarray is designed at the center operating frequency of the other subarray. As a result, the radiation from DCS subarray could be effectively suppressed within the WCDMA band and vice versa, resulting in high isolation between two …

Crowdprivacy: Publish More Useful Data With Less Privacy Exposure In Crowdsourced Location-Based Services, Fang Jing Wu, Tie Luo

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Location-based services (LBSs) typically crowdsource geo-tagged data from mobile users. Collecting more data will generally improve the utility for LBS providers; however, it also leads to more privacy exposure of users' mobility patterns. Although the tension between data utility and user privacy has been recognized, there lacks a solution that determines how much data to collect-in both spatial and temporal domains-is the "best" for both mobile users and the service provider. This article proposes a strategy toward making an optimal tradeoff such that a user submits data only if her mobility privacy will not be compromised and the data utility …

Frequency-Selective Metasurface Integrated Uncooled Microbolometers, Mahmoud Almasri, Edward C. Kinzel

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A metasurface integrated microbolometer having a sensing layer (e.g., SixGeyO1-x-y). The presence of the metasurface provides selectivity with respect to wavelength, polarization and angle-of-incidence. The presence of the metasurface into the microbolometer affects conversion of electromagnetic to thermal energy, thermal response, electrical integration of the microbolometer, and the tradeoff between resistivity and temperature coefficient of resistance, thereby allowing the ability to obtain a sensing with high temperature coefficient of resistance with lower resistivity values than that of films without the metasurface. The presence of the metasurface removes the need for a Fabry-Perot cavity.

Aluminum Parts Fabricated By Laser-Foil-Printing Additive Manufacturing: Processing, Microstructure, And Mechanical Properties, Chia Hung Hung, Yingqi Li, Austin Sutton, Wei Ting Chen, Xiangtao Gong, Heng Pan, Hai Lung Tsai, Ming-Chuan Leu

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Fabrication of dense aluminum (Al-1100) parts (>99.3% of relative density) by our recently developed laser-foil-printing (LFP) additive manufacturing method was investigated as described in this paper. This was achieved by using a laser energy density of 7.0 MW/cm2 to stabilize the melt pool formation and create sufficient penetration depth with 300 μm thickness foil. The highest yield strength (YS) and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) in the LFP-fabricated samples reached 111 ± 8 MPa and 128 ± 3 MPa, respectively, along the laser scanning direction. These samples exhibited greater tensile strength but less ductility compared to annealed Al-1100 samples. Fractographic …

Metal Additive Manufacturing Parts Inspection Using Convolutional Neural Network, Wenyuan Cui, Yunlu Zhang, Xinchang Zhang, Lan Li, Frank W. Liou

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) is gaining increasing attention from academia and industry due to its unique advantages compared to the traditional manufacturing process. Parts quality inspection is playing a crucial role in theAMindustry, which can be adopted for product improvement. However, the traditional inspection process has relied on manual recognition, which could suffer from low efficiency and potential bias. This study presented a convolutional neural network (CNN) approach toward robust AM quality inspection, such as good quality, crack, gas porosity, and lack of fusion. To obtain the appropriate model, experiments were performed on a series of architectures. Moreover, data augmentation …

The Voltage Regulation Of Boost Converters Using Dual Heuristic Programming, Sepehr Saadatmand, Sima Azizi, Mohammadamir Kavousi

Graduate Student Research & Creative Works

In this paper, a dual heuristic programming controller is proposed to control a boost converter. Conventional controllers such as proportional-integral-derivative (PID) or proportional-integral (PI) are designed based on the linearized small-signal model near the operating point. Therefore, the performance of the controller during start-up, load change, or input voltage variation is not optimal since the system model changes by varying the operating point. The dual heuristic programming controller optimally controls the boost converter by following the approximate dynamic programming. The advantage of the DHP is that the neural network–based characteristic of the proposed controller enables boost converters to easily cope …

Autonomous Control Of A Line Follower Robot Using A Q-Learning Controller, Sepehr Saadatmand, Sima Azizi, Mohammadamir Kavousi, Donald C. Wunsch

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper, a MIMO simulated annealing (SA)-based Q-learning method is proposed to control a line follower robot. The conventional controller for these types of robots is the proportional (P) controller. Considering the unknown mechanical characteristics of the robot and uncertainties such as friction and slippery surfaces, system modeling and controller designing can be extremely challenging. The mathematical modeling for the robot is presented in this paper, and a simulator is designed based on this model. The basic Q-learning methods are based pure exploitation and the ε -greedy methods, which help exploration, can harm the controller performance after learning completion …

Reduction In Absorption Edge Of The Digital-Alloyed Znmno Thin Films Grown Using Atomic Layer Deposition, Amirhossein Ghods, Chuanle Zhou, Ian T. Ferguson

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Transition metal doping has been used as a common approach for tuning the bandgap energy of zinc oxide (ZnO) based materials. In this work, manganese-doped ZnO (ZnMnO) thin films were grown using the atomic layer deposition (ALD) and used to study the effect of manganese incorporation in ZnO films. The effect of digital alloying on reducing the absorption edge of the ZnMnO thin films is studied by changing the ZnO to MnO cycle ratio during each ALD super-cycle. Room-temperature optical spectroscopic characterization showed a significant reduction in bandgap energy from 3.30 eV for pure ZnO to around 2.25 eV for …

Effect Of Subsurface Microseismicity On The Motion Of Surrounding Dispersed Droplets -- Data, Chao Zeng, Wen Deng

Effect of Subsurface Microseismicity on the Motion of Surrounding Dispersed Droplets – Data

Spreadsheet - Data plotted in Figure 4 and Figure 5

Supporting information

Inspire Newsletter Fall 2020, Missouri University Of Science And Technology. Inspire - University Transportation Center

INSPIRE Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Final Report - Microwave Camera For Concrete Delamination And Steel Corrosion Detection, Chao Liu, Mohammad T. Al Qaseer, Reza Zoughi

Project SN-4

This project studied the capability of microwave methods to detect thickness of induced corrosion byproduct on rebars embedded into concrete, and also similarly embedded delamination. Three microwave methods used or investigated included microwave synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging method, microwave resonance method, and microwave nonlinear measurement. Wideband, low-frequency antennas including a double-ridged horn and a Vivaldi antenna were designed for achieving reasonable spatial resolution while being able to penetrate lossy concrete. Simulations and experiments were conducted for all of these investigations. For the rebar samples use, the results showed that the corrosion thickness was very small (~50 m) which seemed …

Final Report - Battery-Free Antenna Sensors For Strain And Crack Monitoring Of Bridge Structures, Yang Wang, Dan Li

Project SN-2

This project studies a wireless patch antenna as a novel strain/crack sensing technique for structural health monitoring (SHM). The strain/crack induced resonance frequency shift of the antenna can be wirelessly detected and utilized to estimate the surface strain and crack propagation. However, temperature fluctuation can generate some unwanted changes in resonance frequency and introduce significant noises in measurement. This project studies a thermally stable patch antenna sensor through both numerical simulations and laboratory experiments. Using a substrate material with a steady dielectric constant, a patch antenna sensor is designed to perform reliably under temperature fluctuations. In addition, a dual-mode patch …

Semi-Annual Progress Report #6, Missouri University Of Science And Technology. Inspire - University Transportation Center

Semi-Annual Progress Reports

No abstract provided.

Final Report - A Training Framework Of Robotic Operation And Image Analysis For Decision-Making In Bridge Inspection And Preservation, Ruwen Qin, Genda Chen, Zhaozheng Yin, Muhammad Monjurul Karim, Tianyi Zhao, Suzanna Long, Sushil J. Louis

Project WD-1

This project aims to create a framework of training engineers and policy makers on robotic operation and image analysis for the inspection and preservation of transportation infrastructure. This framework includes a method for camera-based bridge inspection data collection, algorithms for data processing and pattern recognitions, and tools for inspection and preservation decision-making. Specifically, a Siamese Neural Network was developed to support bridge engineers in analyzing big video data. The network was initially trained by one-shot learning and fine-tuned iteratively with human in the loop. The neural network algorithm retrieved all related regions from the video based on the regions of …

Inspire Newsletter Spring 2020, Missouri University Of Science And Technology. Inspire - University Transportation Center

INSPIRE Newsletters

No abstract provided.

A Training Framework Of Robotic Operation And Image Analysis For Decision-Making In Bridge Inspection And Preservation, Ruwen Qin, Genda Chen, Suzanna Long, Zhaozheng Yin, Sushil Louis, Muhammad Monjurul Karim, Tianyi Zhao

Project WD-1

This project aims to create a framework of training engineers and policy makers on robotic operation and image analysis for the inspection and preservation of transportation infrastructure. Specifically, it develops the method for collecting camera-based bridge inspection data and the algorithms for data processing and pattern recognitions; and it creates tools for assisting users on visually analyzing the processed image data and recognized patterns for inspection and preservation decision-making.

The project first developed a Siamese Neural Network to support bridge engineers in analyzing big video data. The network was initially trained by one-shot learning and is fine-tuned iteratively with human …

Bridge Resilience Assessment With Inspire Data, Iris Tien, Yijian Zhang

Project RR-1

This project proposed a methodology to assess the impact of corrosion on the performance of bridges. The combined analytical and numerical modeling of shear-critical and lap-spliced columns is detailed, and outcomes are verified with previous experimental test data. The impact of corrosion on risk is assessed through conducting fragility analyses. Results quantify the increase in failure probabilities of these structures, measured by increasing probabilities of exceeding defined damage states, with increasing levels of corrosion. Corrosion is found to have a larger impact on increasing probabilities of exceeding more severe damage states. Twenty percent mass loss of reinforcement increases the probability …

Simulating Der Adoption In Wholesale Power Markets Using Agent Based Computational Economics, Islam H. El-Adaway, Charles Sims, Mohamed Eid, Yinan Liu, Gasser Galal Ali

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

There is a transition from centralized electricity generation to distributed energy resources (DER). An increasing number of customers are adopting distributed solar generation (DSG). However, utilities face the difficulty of predicting electrical demand and therefore dispatching and controlling generation. The goal of this research is to study the evolving dynamic market behavior affected by DER investment decisions. To that end, agent-based modeling (ABM) is used to study the emerging behavior of the market under those conditions. The model is developed from the existing and validated AMES framework, which is used for agent-based computational economics (ACE) simulation of wholesale power markets. …

Evaluation Of Engineering Properties Of Soil In Al Butayn, Mudarraj Al Qassim And Turubah - Hail Saudi Arabia, Turki Essam A. Sehly

Masters Theses

"Fractures, sinkhole, building cracks, and ground subsidence have spread in many regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, some of which are related to seismic activity, others due to the presence of unstable soils (collapsing soils and Expansive soils) and others because of faults, while others result from drawing groundwater at great rates. The current study has several facts related to the formation of cracks and landslides, including:
1) A general study of geomorphology and geology of the study areas.
2) The causes affecting the formation of cracks and subsidence.
3) Detailed geomorphological and geological studies of the locations of …

Development Of Amine-Functionalized Mesoporous Alumina For Radioiodine Removal From Water, Mansour Mohammed Alsalbokh

Masters Theses

“Radioactive materials have spread due to careless disposal and nuclear disasters. Some radionuclides can exist in an aqueous media, like radioactive iodine. As a result, in this work amine-functionalized mesoporous alumina was developed to adsorb radioactive iodine from the liquid phase. Bismuth was incorporated, using a wet impregnation method, to test it as a possible silver replacement. Amine grafting was used to functionalize the surface of the mesoporous alumina. All materials prepared in this work were characterized by N₂ physisorption, FTIR and TGA to determine the textural properties, surface functionality, and amine loading. The synthesized materials were tested for …

Off-Policy Q-Learning For Anti-Interference Control Of Multi-Player Systems, Jinna Li, Zhenfei Xiao, Tianyou Chai, Frank L. Lewis, Sarangapani Jagannathan

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper develops a novel off-policy game Q-learning algorithm to solve the anti-interference control problem for discrete-time linear multi-player systems using only data without requiring system matrices to be known. The primary contribution of this paper lies in that the Q-learning strategy employed in the proposed algorithm is implemented in an off-policy policy iteration approach other than on-policy learning due to the well-known advantages of off-policy Q-learning over on-policy Q-learning. All of the players work hard together for the goal of minimizing their common performance index meanwhile defeating the disturbance that tries to maximize the specific performance index, and finally …

Time- And Space-Dependent Uncertainty Analysis And Its Application In Lunar Plasma Environment Modeling, Xinpeng Wei

Doctoral Dissertations

”During an engineering system design, engineers usually encounter uncertainties that ubiquitously exist, such as material properties, dimensions of components, and random loads. Some of these parameters do not change with time or space and hence are time- and space-independent. However, in many engineering applications, the more general time- and space-dependent uncertainty is frequently encountered. Consequently, the system exhibits random time- and space-dependent behaviors, which may result in a higher probability of failure, lower average lifetime, and/or worse robustness. Therefore, it is critical to quantify uncertainty and predict how the system behaves under time- and space- dependent uncertainty. The objective of …

Analyzing Citation Metrics In Civil Engineering With Focus On Construction Engineering And Management, Islam H. El-Adaway, Gasser G. Ali, Rayan Assaad, Amr Elsayegh, Ibrahim S. Abotaleb

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

There are several metrics used to evaluate academic publications, including number of citations, h-index, and others. While these metrics are directly related to rewards in the academic community, it is debated whether they correctly reflect the true impact of research. As such, there is a need to clearly interpret and understand such metrics. The goal of this paper is to investigate the citation metrics used to assess academic publications in civil engineering (CE) with a considerable focus on construction engineering and management (CEM). The investigation of these two research fields is important since each one of them has its own …

Computational Model For Neural Architecture Search, Ram Deepak Gottapu

Doctoral Dissertations

"A long-standing goal in Deep Learning (DL) research is to design efficient architectures for a given dataset that are both accurate and computationally inexpensive. At present, designing deep learning architectures for a real-world application requires both human expertise and considerable effort as they are either handcrafted by careful experimentation or modified from a handful of existing models. This method is inefficient as the process of architecture design is highly time-consuming and computationally expensive.

The research presents an approach to automate the process of deep learning architecture design through a modeling procedure. In particular, it first introduces a framework that treats …