Engineering Commons^™

Evaluating "Independent" Assessment Of Capstone Projects By Mechanical Engineering Students In Dit, Kevin Delaney

Conference Papers

A review has recently been conducted to evaluate the process from the perspective of both students and staff with a view to determining whether or not this structure should be continued with. This paper documents the rationale behind the concept, the logistical challenges, and an analysis of the feedback received from both students and staff as part of the review. In addition, future plans to improve the fairness, consistency and transparency of the assessment process for such projects are outlined.

Development Of A Friction Testing Apparatus For Demoulding Force Prediction, Kevin Delaney, David Kennedy, G. Bissacco

Conference Papers

Friction between replication tools and replicated parts determines the force required to demould the part and also the stresses which develop in both the tool and the part during the demoulding process. Standardized equipment and procedures have been developed which strive to improve the repeatability and reproducibility of friction tests. Specific test standards, describing sled-type tests, include JIS K 7125, ISO 8295 and ASTM D1894. However these tests do not produce results which are representative of the conditions typically found within replication tools such as injection moulds or embossing tools. This paper reviews how this challenge has been addressed by …

Modelling Of Highway Bridge Traffic Loading: Some Recent Advances, Bernard Enright, Colin C. Caprani, Eugene J. Obrien

Conference papers

The accurate estimation of site-specific lifetime extreme traffic load effects is an important element in the cost-effective assessment of bridges. In recent years, the improved quality and increasing use of weigh-in-motion technology has meant that better quality and larger databases of vehicle weights are now available. This has enabled measurements of the regular occurrence of extremely heavy vehicles, with weights in excess of 100 t. The collected measurements have been used as the basis for building and calibrating a Monte Carlo simulation model for bridge loading. The computer programs written to implement this model generate simulated traffic in two lanes …

Lead Silicate Glass Microsphere Resonators With Absorption-Limited Q, Pengfei Wang, Genapathy Murugan, Timothy Lee, Xian Feng, Yuliya Semenova, Qiang Wu, Wei Loh, Gilberto Brambilla, James Wilkinson, Gerald Farrell

Articles

We report the fabrication and characterization of a lead-silicate glass microsphere resonator. We show that at the wavelengths near 1555 nm high Q modes can be efficiently excited from a 109 μm diameter lead-silicate glass microsphere via evanescent coupling using a tapered silica fiber with a waist diameter of 2 μm. Resonances with Q-factors as high as 0.9×10⁷ were observed. This is very close to the theoretical material-limited Q-factor and is the highest Q-factor reported so far from a nonlinear glass microsphere.

Investigation Of Singlemode-Multimode-Singlemode And Singlemode-Tapered Multitmode-Singlemode Fibre Structures And Their Application For Refractive Index Sensing, Pengfei Wang, Gilberto Brambilla, Ming Ding, Yuliya Semenova, Qiang Wu, Gerald Farrell

Articles

All-fiber in-line single-mode–multimode–single-mode (SMS) and single-mode–tapered-multimode–single-mode (STMS) fiber structures are investigated. A wide-angle beam propagation method in cylindrical coordinates is developed and employed for numerical simulations of the light propagation performance of such fiber devices. The effect of strong mode interference on the performance of the devices is studied and verified numerically; results indicate that the proposed STMS structure can be exploited for measuring a broad refractive index range with reasonable high resolution, compared with the conventional SMS structure.

Dynamic Electrical Ratings And The Economics Of Capacity Factor For Wave Energy Converter Arrays, Fergus Sharkey, Elva Bannon, Michael Conlon, Kevin Gaughan

Conference papers

Wave Energy Converters (WECs) have been in development for several decades with some devices now coming close to commercial realities. As such, pilot projects are being developed, particularly in the UK and Ireland, to deploy WECs on a pre-commercial array scale. The ultimate ambition is to have multiple WECs installed in a ‘wave farm’ in a similar fashion to offshore wind farms. For large scale wind farms the inter-array and export electrical systems can represent more than 20% of the project’s capital expenditure. Submarine power cables account for a large proportion of this cost. The same is expected to hold …

Parallel Operation Of Inverters And Active Power Filters In Distributed Generation System: A Review, Shafiuzzaman Khan Khadem, Malabika Basu, Michael Conlon

Articles

In this paper a technical review of parallel operation of power electronics inverters for load sharing conditions in distributed generation (DG) network is presented. Emphasis is given to parallel operation of Active Power Filters (APFs) as they are widely used to mitigate load current disturbances into DG networks. Discussions on recent advances in control strategies as applied to APFs are presented.

Dielectric And Optical Study Of Biaxial Bent-Core Nematic Liquid Crystal, S. P. Sreenilayam, M. Nagaraj, Yuri Panarin, J. K. Vij, C. Keith, C. Tschierske

Articles

We report the observation of biaxial nematic phase in a bent-core molecular system in which the biaxiality exists on a microscopic scale using polarizing microscopy, electro-optics and dielectric spectroscopy. An application of electric field induces a macroscopic biaxiality and therefore electro-optic switching. The observed electro-optic switching is explained in terms of the interaction of the ferroelectric clusters with the electric field. Dielectric spectra of the sample shows existence of low-frequency collective processes related to the microscopic polar clusters. The dielectric constant changes its sign from positive to negative and again to positive values.

Advancing The Use Of Bim Through A Government Funded Construction Industry Competency Centre In Ireland, Alan V. Hore, Ken Thomas

Conference papers

The main aim of this paper is to develop the early case for a new Competence Centre dedicated to industry led research in the Irish construction industry. It incorporates the results of a survey carried out by the Construction IT Aliance (CITA) and also identifies similiar centres carrying out industry led research around the world. Results from the survey show a clear support for the establishment of such a centre in Ireland and, in particular, a strong interest in Building Information Modelling (BIM) as a immediate priority research area. BIM is having a profound effect worldwide on the construction industry. …

What Difference Does It Make?- The Current Role And Potential Impact Social Enterprise Can Play In The Regeneration Of Disadvantaged Communities, Gerard Doyle

Articles

At European level there is no universally accepted definition of what constitutes a social enterprise (GHK, 2006). However, the number of definitions of what constitutes a social enterprise reflects the diverse understanding of what a social enterprise actually is. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) (2002) definition is widely used: A social enterprise is a business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners. Social enterprises share a number of common characteristics: they are …

Morphological Analysis From Images Of Hyphal Growth Using A Fractional Dynamic Model, Jonathan Blackledge, Dan Barry

Books/Book chapters

The development of methods capable of accurately characterising the morphology of filamentous microbes represents a significant challenge to biotechnologists. This is because the productivity of many industrial fermentation processes is heavily dependent on the morphological form adopted by an organism. It is therefore of significant value if a quantitative model and associated metric(s) for morphological forms determined by complex phenotypes can be determined non-invasively, e.g. through image analysis. Specific interest is in the quantification of the branching behaviour of an organism. This is due to the link between branching frequency, biomass and metabolite production. In this paper we present a …

Single Mode Optical Fiber Based Refractive Index Sensor Using Etched Cladding, Ajay Kumar, Geeta Gupta, Arun Mallik, Anuj Bhatnagar

Articles

The use of optical fiber for sensor applications is a topic of current interest. We report the fabrication of etched single mode optical fiber based refractive index sensor. Experiments are performed to determine the etch rate of fiber in buffered hydrofluoric acid, which can be high or low depending upon the temperature at which etching is carried out. Controlled wet etching of fiber cladding is performed using these measurements and etched fiber region is tested for refractive index sensing application. We report significant optical power change in fiber sensor at 1550 nm wavelength, in the presence of IPAsolution and also …

Successful Engineering And Technology Student Mobility: Key Student Perspectives And Quality Determinants Before, During And After Student Exchange Under The Atlantis Programme, Mike Murphy, Donal Mchale, Michael Dyrenfurth, James Barnes

Articles

The EU-US Agreement through the Atlantis Programmes supports consortia of higher education and training institutions working together at undergraduate or graduate level to improve their educational services, to compare and modernise curricula and to develop joint study programmes with full recognition of credits and qualifications. The EU-US Atlantis Programme funds innovative projects across three strands: mobility projects, double or joint “transatlantic degrees” for students in the EU and US and policy-oriented measures. The main focus of activities must be on transatlantic rather than intra-European or intra-American interactions. Funded activities, such as the development of curricula, joint study programmes, exchanges and …

Critical Issues And Lessons Learned In Establishing Concurrent International Ms Degree Programs In Engineering Technology, Mike Murphy, Michael Dyrenfurth, Gary Bertoline, Robert Herrick, Kathryne Newton, Sancho Maria-Ribera, Nuria Castell, James Barnes, Matthias Kuder, Gareth O'Donnell

Articles

Globalization, competitiveness, and innovation are frequently employed themes as governments, business and industry and universities attempt to respond to the challenges facing them. Clearly business as usual is not likely to be successful in the future. One strategic response for universities has been a significant impetus – in many parts of the world – towards dual, joint or concurrent degree programs involving international partners. It is perhaps not surprising that engineering is among the disciplines that make most use of international collaboration but it seems that engineering technology programs do not yet participate as extensively in this aspect of international …

Engineering Graduates: Preparation And Progression: Institutes Of Technology Honours Bachelor Degree Engineering Graduate Study, June, 2011, James Shivnan, Austin Hanley, Mike Murphy

Reports

The national strategy for higher level education underlines the importance of innovation and enterprise; and well qualified engineers are central to furthering that strategy. This honours bachelor degree engineering graduate study represents an intense dialogue between engineering faculties across the Institutes of Technology to gain insight into the quality of our engineering education. The study provides a fresh insight into how NFQ Level 81honours bachelor degree engineering graduates from the Institutes are perceived by employers, how well the graduates themselves feel they are prepared to perform as engineers, and how both employers and graduates judge the strengths and weaknesses of …

On The Applications Of Deterministic Chaos For Encrypting Data On The Cloud, Jonathan Blackledge, Nikolai Ptitsyn

Conference papers

Cloud computing is expected to grow considerably in the future because it has so many advantages with regard to sale and cost, change management, next generation architectures, choice and agility. However, one of the principal concerns for users of the Cloud is lack of control and above all, data security. This paper considers an approach to encrypting information before it is ‘placed’ on the Cloud where each user has access to their own encryption algorithm, an algorithm that is based on a set of iterated function systems that outputs a chaotic number stream, designed to produce a cryptographically secure cipher. …

Magnetic Resonance Image Processing Using Levy, Jonathan Blackledge, Matthew D. Blackledge

Conference papers

We consider the physical nature of the self-diffusion of water molecules in tissue and explore how (Nuclear) Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging may be used as a means of measuring the rate of diffusion in vivo. A discussion is presented on how these techniques may be implemented as a non-invasive means of assessing the response of tumours to novel therapeutics including some of the basic advantages and disadvan- tages when compared to other methods. The physical basis and mathematical models for diffusion are considered together with models for the distribution of the diffusion co- efficient including a Lévy distributed model. Using …

Wind Turbine Power Quality Estimation Using A Lévy Model For Wind Velocity Data, Jonathan Blackledge, Eugene Coyle, Derek Joseph Kearney

Conference papers

The power quality of a wind turbine is determined by many factors but time-dependent variation in the wind velocity are arguably the most important. In this paper a non-Gaussian model for the wind velocity is introduced that is based on a Lévy distribution. It is shown how this distribution can be used to derive a stochastic fractional diffusion equation for the wind velocity as a function of time whose solution is characterised by the Lévy index. A numerical method for computing the L´evy index from wind velocity time series is introduced and applied to example wind velocity data for both …

A Quality Control System Using Texture Analysis In Metallurgy, Jonathan Blackledge, Dymitiy Dubovitskiy

Conference papers

Object detection, recognition and texture classification is an important aspect of many industrial quality control systems. In this paper, we report on a system designed for the inspection of surfaces which has a range of applications in the area of metallurgy. The approach considered is based on the application of Fractal Geometry and Fuzzy Logic for texture classification and, in this paper, focuses on the manufacture of rolled steel. The manufacture of high quality metals requires automatic surface inspection for the assessment of quality control. Quality control systems are required for several tasks such as screening defected products, monitoring the …

Characteristic Vertical Response Of A Footbridge Due To Crowd Loading, Colin C, Caprani, Joe Keogh, Paul Archbold, Paul Fanning

Conference papers

The characteristic vertical vibration of a flexible footbridge subject to crowd loading is examined in this paper. Typically, bridge vibrations produced from a crowd of pedestrians are estimated by using an enhancement factor applied to the effect caused by a single pedestrian. In this paper, a single pedestrian model, represented by a spring mass damper, which incorporates variables such as pedestrian mass and body stiffness, is used to calibrate a computationally efficient moving force model. This calibrated moving force model is further used in Monte Carlo simulations of non-homogenous crowds to estimate characteristic vertical vibration levels. Enhancement factors, which could …

Community-Based Internet Usage Policy Development, Mashael Alhawsah

Students Learning with Communities

The Internet is a tool for learning and obtaining a vast amount of information, but it is a tool which also has associated problems. The number of risks associated with the internet has been increasing both in number and in danger. As a result, protection measures must be developed to minimize the risks. One of the most important groups of such measures are Internet Usage Policies. An Internet Usage Policy addresses the problem by providing a set of guideline to be followed which minimize the risks. This dissertation investigates the development of Internet Usage Policy with the assistance of the …

Modeling Same-Direction Two-Lane Traffic For Bridge Loading, Eugene J. Obrien, Bernard Enright

Articles

Many highway bridges carry traffic in two same-direction lanes, and modeling the traffic loading on such bridges has been the subject of numerous studies. Different assumptions have been used to model multiple-presence loading events, particularly those featuring one truck in each lane. Using a database of weigh-in-motion measurements collected at two European sites for over 1 million trucks, this paper examines the relationships between adjacent vehicles in both lanes in terms of vehicle weights, speeds and inter-vehicle gaps. It is shown that there are various patterns of correlation, some of which are significant for bridge loading. A novel approach to …

Magnetic Resonance Image Processing Using Levy Distributed Anisotropic Diffusion, Jonathan Blackledge, Matthew Blackledge

Conference papers

We consider the physical nature of the self-diffusion of water molecules in tissue and explore how (Nuclear) Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging may be used as a means of measuring the rate of diffusion in vivo. A discussion is presented on how these techniques may be implemented as a non-invasive means of assessing the response of tumours to novel therapeutics including some of the basic advantages and disadvantages when compared to other methods. The physical basis and mathematical models for diffusion are considered together with models for the distribution of the diffusion co-efficient including a Levy distributed model. Using a …

Creating A Graphical Front-End For A Book Or Dvd Using Photoshop, Jerome Casey

Instructional Guides

No abstract provided.

The Loughcrew Hills And Passage Tomb Complex, Frank Prendergast

Books/Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

Obtaining Speech Assets For Judgement Analysis On Low-Pass Filtered Emotional Speech, John Snel, Charlie Cullen

Conference papers

Investigating the emotional content in speech from acoustic characteristics requires separating the semantic con- tent from the acoustic channel. For natural emotional speech, a widely used method to separate the two channels is the use of cue masking. Our objective is to investigate the use of cue masking in non-acted emotional speech by analyzing the extent to which filtering impacts the perception of emotional content of the modified speech material. However, obtaining a corpus of emotional speech can be quite difficult whereby verifying the emotional content is an issue thoroughly discussed. Currently, speech research is showing a tendency toward constructing …

Perforation Of Arterial Tissue Using Kilohertz Frequency Ultrasound Delivered Via Wire Waveguides, Mark Wylie, Garrett Mcguinness, Graham Gavin

Conference Papers

An emerging technology proposes the use of low frequency-high power ultrasound transmitted via wire waveguides for the disruption and ablation of atherosclerotic lesions, more specifically advanced fibrous or calcified plaques such as chronic total occlusions (CTO). This energy delivery selectively ablates rigid diseased tissue by means of direct mechanical contact, cavitation and other forces generated by the intense dynamic pressure fields generated.

The first clinical device using this energy delivery was granted FDA approval in 2007 [1] for the ablation of CTOs and most research to date has focused on ablation and disruption of hard, fibrous or calcified tissues [2]. …

A High Sensitivity, Evanescent Feld Refractometric Sensor Based On Tapered Multimode Fiber Interference, Pengfei Wang, Gilberto Brambilla, Ming Ding, Yuliya Semenova, Qiang Wu, Gerald Farrell

Articles

We propose and experimentally demonstrate an enhanced evanescent field fiber refractometer based on a tapered multimode fiber sandwiched between two single-mode fibers. Experiments show that this fiber sensor offers ultrahigh sensitivity [better than 1900 nm/RIU at a refractive index (RI) of 1.44] for RI measurements within the range of 1.33–1.44 , in agreement with the theoretical predictions. This is the highest value reported to date (to our knowledge) in the literature.

Investigation And Experimental Measurement Of Scissor Blade Cutting Forces Using Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors., Dean Callaghan, Ginu Rajan, Mark Mcgrath, Eugene Dermot Coyle Professor, Yuliya Semenova, Gerald Farrell

Articles

This paper investigated the application of FBG sensors in the measurement of scissor blade–tissue interaction forces. Sensor placement at the blade–tissue interaction site provides the basis for increased force measurement accuracy, without compromising the functionality of the instrument. This increased accuracy provided the foundation for in-depth analysis of the force components generated during typical scissor cutting cycles. Theoretical analysis and experimental investigation explored the decoupling of the major forces present during cutting. The isolation of tissue-fracture forces from inter-blade friction forces was carried out. This is useful as knowledge of the fracture properties of biological tissues can be diff cult …

Formation Of Infrared Windows Of Transparency In One-Dimensional Silicon Photonic Crystals, Anna Baldycheva, Vladmir A; Tolmachev, Tatiana S. Perova, Kevin Berwick

Articles

The optical properties of three-component one-dimensional photonic crystal (1-D PC) structures were investigated by modeling them as two-component PCs with an additional regular t-layer, using the gap map approach and the transfer matrix method. Numerical results demonstrate that the introduction of the t-layer affects the properties of the high-order photonic band gaps, replacing them with transmission bands and creating regions of transparency over certain wavelength ranges. For the first time, a map of the transmission bands for a three-component 1-D PC was generated. This map constitutes a unique design tool for infrared optical filters for silicon-based photonic integrated …