Engineering Commons^™

The Bridge Newsletter Winter 2017, Missouri University Of Science And Technology

The Bridge Newsletter

-Hands-on experience in concrete materials research and construction practices
-Making ACML progress
-Taos bridge project

Engineering Cyber Physical Systems: Preface, Cihan H. Dagli

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Multi-faceted systems of the future will entail complex logic with many levels of reasoning in intricate arrangement. The organization of these systems involves a web of connections and demonstrates self-driven adaptability. They are designed for autonomy and may exhibit emergent behavior that can be visualized.

Complex Adaptive Systems have dynamically changing meta-architectures. Finding an optimal architecture for these systems is a multi-criteria decision making problem often involving many objectives in the order of 20 or more. This creates "Pareto Breakdown" which prevents ordinary multi-objective optimization approaches from effectively searching for an optimal solution; saturating the decision maker with large sets …

Instance Selection Using Genetic Algorithms For An Intelligent Ensemble Trading System, Youngmin Kim, David Lee Enke

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Instance selection is a way to remove unnecessary data that can adversely affect the prediction model, thereby selecting representative and relevant data from the original data set that is expected to improve predictive performance. Instance selection plays an important role in improving the scalability of data mining algorithms and has also proven to be successful over a wide range of classification problems. However, instance selection using an evolutionary approach, as proposed in this study, is different from previous methods that have focused on improving accuracy performance in the stock market (i.e., Up or Down forecast). In fact, we propose a …

Establishing Rules For Self-Organizing Systems-Of-Systems, David M. Curry, Cihan H. Dagli

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Self-organizing systems-of-systems offer the possibility of autonomously adapting to new circumstances and tasking. This could significantly benefit large endeavors such as smart cities and national defense by increasing the probability that new situations are expediently handled. Complex self-organizing behaviors can be produced by a large set of individual agents all following the same simple set of rules. While biological rule sets have application in achieving human goals, other rules sets may be necessary as these goals are not necessarily mirrored in nature. To this end, a set of system, rather than biologically, inspired rules is introduced and an agent-based model …

Precoder Design For Simultaneous Wireless Information And Power Transfer Systems With Finite-Alphabet Inputs, Xiaodong Zhu, Weiliang Zeng, Chengshan Xiao

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Existing research on a simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) system is based on the assumption of Gaussian inputs. However, the optimal design on Gaussian inputs may lead to dramatic performance loss for practical systems with finite-Alphabet inputs. This paper focuses on the precoder design for a SWIPT system with finite-Alphabet inputs and instantaneous channel state information over a multiple-input multiple-output channel. We formulate the optimal precoder design as an optimization problem, in which the objective is to maximize the mutual information over the channel from the transmitter to the information receiver under the constraints of transmit power and …

Lab-On-Sensor For Structural Behavior Monitoring: Theory And Applications, Genda Chen

INSPIRE Archived Webinars

There are over 600,000 bridges in the U.S. National Bridge Inventory (NBI). Nearly 50% of them rapidly approach their design life and deteriorate at an alarming rate, particularly under an increasing volume of overweight trucks. Visual inspection as the current practice in bridge management is labor intensive and subjective, resulting in inconsistent and less reliable element ratings. Lab-on-sensor technologies can provide supplemental mission-critical data to the visual inspection for both qualitative and quantitative evaluations of structural conditions, and thus critical decision-making of cost-effective strategies in bridge preservation.

In this presentation, the design and operation characteristics of highway bridges are first …

The Comprehensive Handling Of Safety In An Autonomous Robot Capstone Project, John G. Ciezki, Steve Eugene Watkins

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A systematic approach to safety issues is described in the context of an autonomous robot capstone project. The treatment of safety should not be an ad hoc or an after-thought aspect of design projects. Engineering students need to consider safety as an integral component of the design process and to identify and address hazards systematically in each stage of project work. Appropriate actions include researching professional standards and regulations, incorporating safety best practices, developing safety checklists and operating protocols, and providing significant safety documentation. Formal safety components were added to a capstone design project for electrical and computer engineering undergraduates …

Measuring Rheological Properties Of Cement Pastes: Most Common Techniques, Procedures And Challenges, Dimitri Feys, Rolands Cepuritis, Stefan Jacobsen, Karel Lesage, Egor Secrieru, Ammar Yahia

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Science of Rheology is Increasingly Used to Describe the Properties of Fresh Cement Paste. Compared to Standard Workability Tests, Rheological Properties Allow for More Fundamental Investigation, More Precise Phenomenological Description of Flow Properties and Serve as Input for Numerical Simulations. Standard Commercially Available Rheometers Are Typically Used to Perform Those Measurements. However, the Results of the Measurement Depend on the Geometry, Testing Procedure and a Number of Potential Artefacts. This Technical Letter Describes the Most Common Techniques and Procedures Used to Assess the Rheological Properties of Cement Paste, as Well as Challenges during Measurements and Actions to Counter These …

Potency And Cytotoxicity Of A Novel Gallium-Containing Mesoporous Bioactive Glass/Chitosan Composite Scaffold As Hemostatic Agents, Sara Pourshahrestani, Ehsan Zeimaran, Nahrizul Adib Kadri, Nicola Gargiulo, Hassan Mahmood Jindal, Sangeetha Vasudevaraj Naveen, Shamala Devi Sekaran, Tunku Kamarul, Mark R. Towler

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Chitosan-based hemostats are promising candidates for immediate hemorrhage control. However, they have some disadvantages and require further improvement to achieve the desired hemostatic efficiency. Here, a series of 1% Ga2O3-containing mesoporous bioactive glass-chitosan composite scaffolds (Ga-MBG/CHT) were constructed by the lyophilization process and the effect of various concentrations of Ga-MBG (10, 30, and 50 wt %) on the hemostatic function of the CHT scaffold was assessed as compared to that of Celox Rapid gauze (CXR), a current commercially available chitosan-coated hemostatic gauze. The prepared scaffolds exhibited >79% porosity and showed increased water uptake compared to that in CXR. The results …

Cyclic Compression Behavior Of Concrete-Filled Hybrid Large Rupture Strain Frp Tube, Monika Nain, Mohanad M. Abdulazeez, Mohamed Elgawady

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper experimentally investigates the behavior of concrete-filled-fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) cylinders under cyclic axial compression. The FRP used in this study were either large rupture strain FRP (LRS-FRP) or hybrid LRS-FRP and conventional glass FRP (GFRP). LRS-FRP are manufactured out of polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) obtained from recycled plastics. Hence, they are much cheaper and environment-friendly than conventional GFRP or carbon FRP (CFRP). LRS-FRPs has high tensile rupture strain (usually greater than 5%) compared to 1-2% for GFRP and CFRP. This study presents the results of 4 specimens with different confinement ratios to investigate the behavior of …

Torsional Behavior Of Hollow-Core Frp-Concrete-Steel Bridge Columns, Sujith Anumolu, Omar I. Abdelkarim, Mohanad M. Abdulazeez, Ahmed Gheni, Mohamed Elgawady

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents the behavior of hollow-core fiber reinforced polymer-concrete-steel (HC-FCS) column under pure torsion loading with constant axial load. The HCFCS consists of outer FRP tube and inner steel tube with concrete shell sandwiched between the two tubes. The FRP tube was stopped at the surface of the footing and provided confinement to the concrete shell from outer direction. The steel tube was embedded into the footing to a length of 1.8 times to the diameter of the steel tube. The longitudinal and transversal reinforcements of the column were provided by the steel tube only. A large-scale HC-FCS column …

Nonlinear Analysis Of Hollow-Core Composite Building Columns, Mohanad M. Abdulazeez, Mohamed Elgawady

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper numerically investigates the behavior of hollow-core fiber-reinforced polymer-concrete-steel (HC-FCS) building columns under combined axial compression and flexural loadings. The HC-FCS column for buildings consists of an outer circular fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) tube, an inner square steel tube, and a concrete wall between them. A three-dimensional numerical model has been developed using LS_DYNA software for modeling of large scale HC-FCS columns. The nonlinear FE models were designed and validated against experimental results gathered from HC-FCS columns tested under cyclic lateral loading. The FE results were in decent agreement with the experimental backbone curves. These models subsequently were used to …

The Effect Of Engineered Nanotopography Of Electrospun Microfibers On Fiber Rigidity And Macrophage Cytokine Production, Nicholas J. Schaub, Anthony R. D'Amato, Andrew Mason, David T. Corr, Erin Y. Harmon, Michelle R. Lennartz, Ryan J. Gilbert

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Currently, it is unknown how the mechanical properties of electro spun fibers, and the presentation of surface nano topography influence macrophage gene expression and protein production. By further elucidating how specific fiber properties (mechanical properties or surface properties) alter macrophage behavior, it may be possible to create electro spun fiber scaffolds capable of initiating unique cellular and tissue responses. In this study, we determined the elastic modulus and rigidity of fibers with varying topographies created by finely controlling humidity and including a non-solvent during electrospinning. In total, five fiber scaffold types were produced. Analysis of fiber physical properties demonstrated no …

Degradation Of Bisphenol-A By Dielectric Barrier Discharge System: Influence Of Polyethylene Glycol Stabilized Nano Zero Valent Iron Particles, Jimoh O. Tijani, Massima E.S. Mouele, Ojo O. Fatoba, Omotola O. Babajide, Leslie F. Petrik

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this study we report the synthesis and catalytic properties of polyethylene glycol stabilized nano zero valent iron particles (PEG-nZVI) added to the dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) system to induce photo-Fenton process in the degradation of bisphenol A (BPA) in aqueous solution. The influence of operating parameters such as solution pH, initial concentration of the modelled pollutant and PEG-nZVI dosage on the extent of BPA degradation was investigated. The residual concentration of BPA and its intermediates were determined using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS). The high-resolution scanning electron microscope (HRSEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller …

Dpm Dispersion Inside A Single Straight Entry Using Dynamic Mesh Model, Yi Zheng, Ying Li, Magesh Thiruvengadam, Hai Lan, Jerry C. Tien

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Three-dimensional simulations of diesel particulate matter (DPM) distribution inside a single straight entry for the Load-Haul-Dump loader (LHD)-truck loading and truck hauling operations were conducted by using ANSYS FLUENT computational fluid dynamics software. The loading operation was performed for a fixed period of 3 min. The dynamic mesh technique in FLUENT was used to study the impact of truck motion on DPM distribution. The resultant DPM distributions are presented for the cases when the truck was driving upstream and downstream of the loading face. Interesting phenomena were revealed in the study including the piston effect, layering of DPM in the …

Impact Of Surface Ozone Interactions On Indoor Air Chemistry: A Modeling Study, M. Kruza, A. C. Lewis, G. C. Morrison, N. Carslaw

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An INdoor air Detailed Chemical Model was developed to investigate the impact of ozone reactions with indoor surfaces (including occupants), on indoor air chemistry in simulated apartments subject to ambient air pollution. The results are consistent with experimental studies showing that approximately 80% of ozone indoors is lost through deposition to surfaces. The human body removes ozone most effectively from indoor air per square meter of surface, but the most significant surfaces for C6-C10 aldehyde formation are soft furniture and painted walls owing to their large internal surfaces. Mixing ratios of between 8 and 11 ppb of C6-C10 aldehydes are …

Effects Of Loading Rate On Gas Seepage And Temperature In Coal And Its Potential For Coal-Gas Disaster Early-Warning, Chong Zhang, Xiaofei Liu, Guang Xu, Xiaoran Wang

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The seepage velocity and temperature externally manifest the changing structure, gas desorption and energy release that occurs in coal containing gas failure under loading. By using the system of coal containing gas failure under loading, this paper studies the law of seepage velocity and temperature under different loading rates and at 1.0 MPa confining pressure and 0.5 MPa gas pressure, and combined the on-site results of gas pressure and temperature. The results show that the stress directly affects the seepage velocity and temperature of coal containing gas, and the pressure and content of gas have the most sensitivity to mining …

Impact Of Coalbed Incidence Angle On Methane Enrichment Zone In Longwall Gob, Shengyong Hu, Ao Zhang, Guorui Feng, Shuwen Guan, Xiangqian Guo, Chao Li, Guang Xu

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

To control methane emissions in gob into longwall working faces, it is necessary to understand the distributions of methane enrichment zones (MEZ) around mined coal seams with different incidence angles. In this paper, FLAC^3D software is used to calculate the three-dimensional stress distributions in MEZ in gobs with coalbed incidence angles ranging from 0° to 50°. The results show that MEZ consistently exhibit a "hexagon" shape, and rotate in a clockwise direction as the coalbed angle increases. The MEZ range above the mined seam is larger than that below the mined seam. As the coalbed angle increases, the MEZ …

Degradation Of 2-Nitrophenol By Dielectric Barrier Discharge System: The Influence Of Carbon Doped Tio2 Photocatalyst Supported On Stainless Steel Mesh, J. O. Tijani, M. E.S. Mouele, T. C. Tottito, O. O. Fatoba, L. F. Petrik

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study investigated the degradation of 2-nitrophenol (2-NP) in aqueous solution by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) system alone and its combination with supported TiO₂ photocatalysts. The TiO₂ photocatalyst supported on a stainless-steel mesh was synthesized using sol–gel solution of 8% polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/dimethylformamide/TiCl4 followed by pyrolysis in the furnace under N2 atmosphere at temperatures of 300, 350, or 400 °C for 3 h holding time. The supported catalysts were characterized for their morphologies, functional groups, crystallinity, surface areas and elemental chemical states by high resolution scanning electron microscope (HRSEM), Fourier transform infrared, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area, …

Spiraling Light With Magnetic Metamaterial Quarter-Wave Turbines, J. Zeng, T. S. Luk, Jie Gao, Xiaodong Yang

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Discontinuous Galerkin Time-Domain Analysis Of Power-Ground Planes Taking Into Account Decoupling Capacitors, Ping Li, Li (Lijun) Jun Jiang, Hakan Bagci

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper, a discontinuous Galerkin time-domain (DGTD) method is developed to analyze the power-ground planes taking into account the decoupling capacitors. In the presence of decoupling capacitors, the whole physical system can be split into two subsystems: 1) the field subsystem that is governed by Maxwell's equations that will be solved by the DGTD method, and 2) the circuit subsystem including the capacitor and its parasitic inductor and resistor, which is going to be characterized by the modified nodal analysis algorithm constructed circuit equations. With the aim to couple the two subsystems together, a lumped port is defined over …

Loading Time Flexibility In Cross-Docking Systems, Dincer Konur, Mihalis M. Golias

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this study, we investigate truck-to-door assignment problem for loading outgoing trucks in a cross-docking system with flexible handling times. Specifically, a truck's loading time depends on the number of workers assigned to the outbound door, where the truck is being loaded. An optimization problem is formulated to jointly determine the number of workers and the trucks to be loaded at each door. The resulting problem is a nonlinear integer programming model. Due to the complexity of this model, two evolutionary heuristic methods are proposed for solution. First heuristic method is based on truck assignments while the second heuristic is …

Nuclear Fusion As A Primary Energy Production Method, Joshua Eiswirth

Missouri S&T’s Peer to Peer

In this paper, the possibility of using nuclear fusion as a primary energy producer will be analyzed. A brief overview of nuclear fusion is given as well as the drawbacks of nuclear fusion today. The human species, need to find a more abundant and renewable means to produce energy, because the non-renewable resources relied on today will be completely used up in as little a 100 years. Nuclear fusion, if perfected, offers a reliable and extremely abundant energy source. With commercial nuclear fusion plants more energy would be available than ever before. While no efficient fusion reactor design exists today, …

Assessment On Food And Water Collection On Mars Vs. Human Survival, Michael Todd Herman Jr.

Missouri S&T’s Peer to Peer

This research focuses on the possibility of farming and water collection on Mars to determine if enough food and water can be gathered to support sustained human life. The inspiration for this comes from the plans to put a human on Mars and create a sustained colony, such as Mars One. This colony can become the basis for a multi-planetary civilization that will substantially reduce future overcrowding problems (the population in 2050 is projected to be 11 billion and is expected to continue to grow exponentially) and promote additional research on space travel that can aid in the reduction of …

Efficiency Of Solar Cell Design And Materials, Grant Vonderhaar

Missouri S&T’s Peer to Peer

Fossil fuels have dominated the energy world ever since their introduction in the Industrial Revolution, and the world has grown more dependent on them in the Postmodern Era. However, the limited amount of fossil fuels in the world poses a problem for future generations; solar energy is the solution to this potential future energy crisis. The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive review of solar panel materials so that solar panels can be refined until they can replace fossil fuels entirely. In this study, I have researched designs for solar cells and determined the most efficient design …

Augmented Approaches To Engineering, Matthew Gary Booth

Missouri S&T’s Peer to Peer

This paper presents the results of research into the integration and application of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) systems into the fields of engineering and engineering education. The research discusses the current iterations of these systems, and the programs that are being developed to run on them. Also being discussed is the potential benefits that implementing these systems can give to engineering education by improving spatial skills for use in engineering education and engineering design. This paper also touches on the current state of the AR and VR markets, and their current focus on entertainment based consumer electronics. …

An Analysis Of The Environmental Impact Of Electric Vehicles, Ashley Schmid

Missouri S&T’s Peer to Peer

Electric cars have the reputation as a possible solution to many modern environmental and economic issues. Electric motors have been an interest of many inventors since the 1830s, but fully electric vehicles were not prevalent until 2008 when Tesla Motors released the Roadster. The looming energy crisis is one of the main motivations for the advancement in renewable and alternative fuel technologies, but since the early 60s, it has been the environmental lobby that has been pushing for this change. The environment suffers from industrialized nations as the amount of greenhouse gas emissions reach new heights every year. Filtration systems …

The Continuous Synthesis Of Pd Supported On Fe3o4 Nanoparticles: A Highly Effective And Magnetic Catalyst For Co Oxidation, Hany A. Elazab, Sherif Moussa, Kendra W. Brinkley, B. Frank Gupton, M. Samy El-Shall

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

We report a facile approach used for the simultaneous reduction and synthesis of a well dispersed magnetically separable palladium nanoparticle supported on magnetite (Pd/Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles) via continuous flow synthesis under microwave irradiation conditions, using a Wave Craft's microwave flow reactor commercially known as Arrhenius One, which can act as a unique process for the synthesis of highly active catalysts for carbon monoxide (CO) oxidation catalysis. The prepared catalysts are magnetic, which is an advantage in the separation process of the catalyst from the reaction medium. The separation process is achieved by applying a strong external magnetic field …

Removal Of Retained Electrospinning Solvent Prolongs Drug Release From Electrospun Plla Fibers, Anthony R. D'Amato, Nicholas J. Schaub, Jesus M. Cardenas, Andrew S. Fiumara, Paul M. Troiano, Andrea Fischetti, Ryan J. Gilbert

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A major challenge in developing drug-releasing electro spun nanofibers is obtaining long-term drug release over many weeks with no burst release of drug. Here, we present new methods capable of prolonging the diffusive release of small molecule drugs from electro spun poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) nanofibers. The methods focus on removal of retained electrospinning solvent through fiber heating, maintaining fibers in a laboratory setting, or a combination of these methods. These post-fabrication methods altered the release characteristics of a model small molecule drug, 6-aminonicotinamide (6AN), from PLLA fibers. Specifically, untreated fibers released 6AN over 9 days, and fibers that underwent a …

Fabricating Zirconia Components With Organic Support Material By The Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion Process, Wenbin Li, Amir Ghazanfari, Devin Mcmillen, Andrew Scherff, Ming-Chuan Leu, Greg Hilmas

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion (CODE) is an extrusion-based additive manufacturing process recently developed for fabricating dense, functional ceramic components. This paper presents a further development of this process and focuses on fabricating 3 mol% yttria-stabilized zirconia (3YSZ) components that cannot be fabricated without using support structures. The 3YSZ paste is deposited through the main nozzle, and a polycaprolactone (PCL) pellet feedstock is melted and deposited through an auxiliary nozzle to build support structures. After a green part is printed and dried, the support structures are removed by heating the part to ~70°C to melt the PCL. The part is then sintered …